The Most Precious Thing You Have
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Season 2 AU- Casino Night meets Quarantine. The office workers are trapped inside the warehouse after a terrifying and deadly disease is confirmed inside. Will they get out alive? Rated T for violence. Now Complete!
1. Casino Night Gone Wrong

**Hey everybody- I'm back! You probably didn't even notice though, right? Right. Well, anyway, this is my new story, which I hope you all will enjoy. Somewhat...:)**

**Disclaimer: I own nada

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_The door opened suddenly, sending bright light out into the dark, empty parking lot. A young man's profile framed the doorway, but something wasn't right. He was staggering, stumbling. He dragged his feet out of the door frame and toppled, weak-kneed, onto the soft, green grass below him. _

_He lay there for a few seconds, gasping for air, before managing to pull himself up slightly, painfully. He could hear the people inside talking and laughing and having a great time, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening._

_But, he knew that something was very, very wrong. Feeling a terrible, gurgling sensation in the pit of his stomach, he managed to scramble toward a nearby bush in time and purge: one, two, three times in a row. He hunched his shoulders as he crouched on all fours, bringing his wrist up to wipe his chin clean._

_Blood glistened from his wrist, and he coughed, spurting blood from his mouth and throat once again. He squeezed his eyes shut._

"_God," he whispered to himself, a prayer to someone he hoped was listening. A stabbing pain shot through his gut again, and he hunched over, giving a small sob into his chest. The sweat still spilled down his face, and a small drop dripped off his nose. He was shaking._

"_Please..." he hissed through his teeth. He gripped the grass below him with both hands and pulled hard enough to rip clumps of dirt right out of the ground. He gulped._

"_...Please, kill me now."

* * *

_

"Hit me." Pam said confidently to the dealer.

The people watching her: Roy, Kelly, Dwight, and Jim included, all cringed collectively. Casino night was happening right now, and the warehouse was packed. Friends, neighbors, and office workers all chatted happily as they gambled and balanced fancy-looking drinks in their hands. Pam was sitting at a table and had accepted a challenge to play against Kevin. A challenge, she now realized, was stupid to take up.

Pam noticed all their disappointed looks, and deflated slightly.

"What?" she asked them innocently. She looked at Jim in particular, but it was her fiance who answered.

"Babe, you already have an 18! Are you crazy?" Roy covered his eyes with his hand and turned away, as if he were ashamed of her. Pam's face sort of crumpled as she stared at Roy's back. She turned slowly back to her cards. Kevin was chuckling to himself

The dealer at least was a little more sympathetic. "Ma'am, it does seem rather unwise to raise. Are you sure you would like to continue?"

Pam's confident look was long gone now, and replaced with a look of embarrassment. She tapped her manicured nails on the felted table as the awkward seconds ticked on.

"I-"

"Yes, she's sure."

Pam looked to her right, and noticed Jim suddenly sitting right beside her. He had a raptly serious look on his face as he looked at the dealer, but when his eyes drifted over to Pam's, he offered her a small wink.

Pam smiled gratefully at her best friend before turning back to her cards, confident once again. She shrugged, "What the hell, right? It's for charity."

The dealer offered her a small smile before finally flipping over the card: Eight of clubs.

The others, already knowing the fate of the hand, already began to disperse, mumbling amongst themselves. Jim just gave Pam a comically disappointed look.

"Damn. I had _such_ a good feeling about this one..." he shook his head morosely.

Pam giggled, giving Jim a genuine smile, as if to say thanks.

Jim's lips turned halfway up into one of his famous one-sided smirks, knowing what she meant."No problem, Beesly. Just promise me you'll actually learn poker a little better before you play again, okay?"

Pam laughed, and was about to answer back, before a large hand suddenly cupped her shoulder and ended the moment.

"Yeah, don't worry 'bout that Halpert." Roy's voice seemed to boom loudly over their whispers. Pam instinctively winced, and Jim looked at her. "Once I'm done teaching her, Pammy will be kickin' all of our asses in Texas Hold 'em. Won't you, sweetheart?" Roy brought his other hand to Pam's other shoulder and squeezed affectionately.

Roy suddenly leaned down next to her ear, (to Pam's, and mostly Jim's, astonishment) and whispered, "How 'bout you and me can start practicing when we get home tonight, shall we?"

Pam whispered something back, and tried to wriggle out of his grip, while Jim stared at his hands uncomfortably. When Pam had protested enough, Roy finally walked away, grudgingly going to look for where Darryl and the guys had went.

Pam and Jim sat awkwardly at the table, silent. Pam finally spoke up:

"I'm sorry about him. It's the open bar, y'know..."

Jim couldn't help but grin half-heartedly. "No, yeah I get it. It's cool..."

Another short silence.

Jim cleared his throat. "So, do you want me to teach you some poker tips later? And I mean that in a totally non-sexual way..."

Pam snickered. "Really? Hard not to. Nothing's sexier than poker..."

"Yeah, I know. It's a total turn-on."

"Oh, absolutely. Like Kevin..."

"And Dwight." Jim smiled, and Pam cracked up.

"Yes Jim: and Dwight."

Jim grinned at her, and Pam felt that familiar twinge of affection low in her gut. Jim was always so sweet to her. When she was uncomfortable or sad or frustrated, Jim would always find some way to make her smile.

_Thank God for Jim,_ Pam thought warmly as she stood up and motioned for him to come with her to the craps table, where some of there fellow office workers were cheering wildly. Jim happily followed her.

* * *

_He heard the click-clack of heels quickly approaching him on the pavement, and the rustle of clothes as the woman, whoever she was, knelt down in front of him. He was hunched over on all fours, pain still coursing through his body. He felt a smooth hand rest on the small of his back, and he automatically tensed up._

_She shouldn't be here._

_He lifted his head to see a woman with thick, wavy hair and a look of worry on her face. "Hey," she whispered, her hand moving in soothing motions on his back. "Are you all right?"_

_She was very beautiful, and he may have known her from a past life. Looking at her was like looking at the face of a childhood friend he hadn't seen in many years. But that didn't matter, because she shouldn't be here in the first place. It was too dangerous. If she knew better, she would run._

_He looked down again, and the girl remained where she was._

_She remained, and his pain had suddenly turned into a rage; a burning rage he had never felt before in his life. It filled inside him, wanting desperately to escape. It focused all it's energies on the woman: only her... _

_The next second, his arm had snapped up and had seized her by the throat. She tried to scream, but all that emitted from her was a small sputter. Her eyes were wide with shock as she clawed at his hand and held as firmly as stone to her windpipe._

_Red only pulsed in front of his eyes. It beat an agonizing rhythm as he slowly pulled himself up to stand, his hand never letting go of the girl. His body moved involuntarily, as if some sick, twisted puppeteer were controlling his limbs. His outstretched arm moved upward, above his head, until the woman's legs weren't touching the ground anymore. They flailed and kicked violently, trying to fight for her life._

"_Help... me..." she gasped out quietly. It was all she could do._

_He turned his head to look at her, and her wide, brown eyes stared into his with panic and fear. Her face grew redder and warmer as she violently fought for air._

_He squeezed tighter._

_The kicking and scratching and gasping got slower and less violent. After a few seconds, the woman finally went limp, her body succumbing to her inevitable suffocation. _

_Knowing the job was finished, he flung her away with a flick of his arm, yet another display of his newly obtained superhuman strength. Her body flew through the air like a grotesque rag doll, soaring under a streetlight and smashing right into it's pole. She then flopped uselessly down onto the cement, unmoving._

_He stood in place for a second before turning and walking slowly over to her. He stood over her body, just staring at what he had done._

_He knelt down beside her. The light from the streetlight lit his shadowy face, and his expression showed no remorse. It stared stonily at it's victim._

_He turned her face-down body over so she was facing upward. Her brown eyes stared blankly toward the sky, glassy in the moonlight."Believe it or not..." he whispered to her, an unnatural soothing tone to his voice. He could finally, albeit vaguely, recognize the smooth and feminine face of Jan Levinson: the woman he had just murdered. _

"_...I just saved your life." Ryan Howard lifted his hand to her hair and pushed her bangs lightly away from her face. It was a beautiful face. Pity._

_He got up and turned around, knowing that he had work to do. There were much, much worse fates that could have become of Miss Levinson than what he had just inflicted upon her. _

_She was the lucky one. And she would never know.

* * *

_

Kelly was wandering around the warehouse aimlessly, glancing around at the people with a small crease of worry etched in her brow. She eventually walked up to the craps table where most of her office coworkers were.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ryan?"

No one heard her at first, for they were all screaming happily that Meredith had rolled a four. Kelly wrung her hands together and glanced around the warehouse again, waiting for them to quiet down. She tried again.

"Hey, guys? Seriously, have any of you seen Ryan around?"

Several heads turned to glance over at Kelly. A giggling Pam was the only one who answered.

"No, I haven't. Why?" She pushed her curly, auburn hair away from her flushed face. Pam finally seemed to notice that Kelly's brown eyes weren't shining with laughter or gossip like usual, and her smile faded.

Kelly sighed worriedly. "He said that he was going out for air like an hour ago, but he never came back. I've looked everywhere for him, but it's like he disappeared into thin air."

Several of the office workers who were listening in on this conversation started giving each other uncomfortable looks. They all knew how Ryan really felt about his girlfriend, and how oblivious she really was on his attitude toward her.

"Um... Kelly?" Pam had unwittingly volunteered to give her the bad news. "Maybe he, uh... went home, or something...?"

Kelly, however, had an answer ready. She shook her head. "I don't think so, because we rode here together in _my_ car. Look- these're my keys," She dug in her purse and extracted a clump of keys all connected to a bright pink rabbit's foot keychain. "How could he have gotten home? As far as I can tell, everyone is still here, so who could he have gotten a ride from?"

"He could've called a cab." Dwight suggested, but Kelly shook her head again.

"He didn't bring his wallet. Everything here is free- he didn't really see the need to bring any money."

Kelly looked desperately at her friends, who were glancing at each other. They were all clearly stumped about where the temp had gotten off to.

Kelly buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, I hope nothing horrible has happened to him! He was complaining that he was feeling really sick and that he didn't want to go tonight but I made him come anyway! Oh my God, I should have listened to him- this is all my fault..."

"Hey, hey..." Jim consoled, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Ryan is fine. And I'm sure he's around here somewhere. I'll check the men's bathroom, okay?" Jim volunteered, and Kelly nodded gratefully. Pam and him exchanged a glance before he turned around and walked away.

Pam had just laid a comforting hand on Kelly's shoulder when Roy walked up to them.

"Hey gang- what's going on?" he asked them all cheerfully. He didn't notice Kelly's or Pam's somber expressions.

"We're looking for Ryan." Angela spoke up for everyone. "He's gone missing."

Roy's eyes glinted mischievously, and he smirked. "Well- maybe the temp just needed a little break from the old 'ball-and-chain', am I right?" Roy held up his hand, awaiting a high-five from one of the people from the group. They all just looked away uncomfortably. Kelly buried her face in Pam's shoulder, with Pam wrapping an arm around her while glaring at her fiancé.

Roy's arm lowered slightly. "What?"

CRASH!

A deafening smash sounded to their right, a sound loud enough to rattle the bones in their bodies. Everyone jumped, and automatically whipped their heads around to see what had made such a racket.

What they saw was a shocking sight. The fluorescent light that hung above the warehouse door that led to the shipment deck had fallen, smashing into thousands of pieces at the foot of a man standing before it all. The absence of light in that particular area only allowed those in the warehouse to see his darkened profile; the details of his face obscured by the shadows.

For several moments, there was dead silence; a mere staring contest between the entire room, and whoever had just smashed the light.

Pam's arm automatically slipped off of Kelly and hooked through Roy's arm for safety. She leaned into him and whispered shakily, "What's going on?"

Roy merely stared at the mysterious man, his face a pale, sickly yellow.

Whispers were thrown here and there; a nervous breath sweeping over the crowd. They all seemed to have the same thoughts: What's going on? Who is that? Should we do something?

Pam held on to Roy's arm even tighter.

Nothing could have prepared them for what happened next though. There was a loud, unearthly shriek, and the figure had moved forward, going so fast that Pam couldn't even make out who it was. He grabbed one of the metal bars that had held up the industrial-sized light and chucked it with tremendous force toward Pam and the group of people surrounding her.

Pam felt Roy's strong arm pull her down to the ground, barely avoiding being horribly injured. The thing shrieked angrily at the crowd, throwing anything it could reach. Everyone screamed, dashing toward safety.

Pam's mind was in a blur. What the hell had happened? Who was that mysterious figure who crashed their party? Why in God's name was she on the ground?

And, shit- did she just avoid death by about half a second?

Pam finally seemed to register the sounds around her. There was screaming and scrambling for the doorways and exits; to get as far away from the monster as possible. Pam, in a whirl of confusion, heard Roy's shout for her to 'get up, dammit!', and felt people jostling her left and right.

Pam suddenly felt two hands grab her shoulders and pull her up, and Pam blinked, thinking it was Roy. But it when she looked up, she saw Kelly's panicked eyes looking at her.

"Pam, it's Ryan! Something's wrong with him! It's him, look!"

Pam still felt completely bewildered. "What?" she asked, her eyes moving crazily around the warehouse, her mind still spinning.

"IT"S RYAN!" Kelly cried, and Pam just noticed that there were tears running down the young woman's cheeks. Kelly suddenly whipped Pam around, and faced her toward the monster.

Pam's eyes, though wide before, seemed to pop right out of her head when she saw it.

Or rather _him_.

Ryan. The _temp_, Ryan Howard.

But it wasn't him, Pam realized. Something wasn't right. His face wasn't what it was supposed to be, and that scared Pam more than anything. His eyes weren't his normal shade of blue, but rather an evil, dark blood-red. The color seemed to bleed into the whites of his eyes, his corneas quadrupled in size. His hair was tangled and wild; the veins in his neck bulging out and Pam could almost see them pulse. His suit, shirt, and pants were ripped and torn, no doubt from his own overwhelming strength.

And worst of all, his shriek. He opened his mouth and out came a terrible, demonic sound, unlike anything Pam had ever heard. It gave her goosebumps, and sent chills throughout her body.

Seeing this savage seemed to snap Pam to her senses. She grabbed a hysterical Kelly by the wrist and shouted only one word to her:

"RUN!"

The two women whipped around and sprinted as fast as their shoes would allow them. They ran and ran, dodging around fallen boxes and debris. They heard Ryan thrashing around behind them- crashes and screams, but they didn't look back. They pressed on.

They turned a corner, and saw several people running toward a nearby door leading outside. Pam breathed a large sigh of relief when she recognized the hulking figure of her fiancé running with the group.

He was there. She was safe.

"Roy!" Pam called out to him, out of breath. He kept running.

"Roy!"

One of the men in front, a man Pam recognized as one of the workers for Vance Refrigeration, flung open the door, and was motioning for the group to hurry up. They were pushing over each other, trying to get out.

The crashes and the shrieks got closer.

Kelly was slowing down, but Pam grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, forcing her to move. They were a good fifty feet from the door, and Pam was desperate to make it before it closed.

"Hold on!"

They were about twenty feet away now, and Roy was the only one not out the door yet.

"Roy- wait!"

Roy flung himself through the doorway, reached in, and grabbed the handle...

"WAIT!"

Pam skidded to a stop in front of him, but he ignored her, slamming the door shut behind him, leaving his fiancé trapped in the warehouse with a monster and imminent death at hand.

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**Please feel free to tell me if you don't like it, because I'm not really used to writing the scary stuff. Reviews are excellent if you do like it, however:)**


	2. The Other 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing worth stealing, so don't even ask.

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Pam just simply couldn't believe it.

The last few minutes in this place had been a complete nightmare, but this precise moment was probably the worst of them all.

Roy Anderson, the love of Pam's life, had just consciously slammed the door in her face and locked her inside a room containing a monster that was ready and willing to kill them all.

The first reaction she felt was humiliation, which she knew was ridiculous. But a split second later, all she could feel was heartbreak. By shoving that door in her face, Roy basically just stated that he cared more about himself than he did about her.

Luckily, Pam wasn't one to wallow in self-pity. The moment that door closed, she only stood there for a second before running up and trying to pry it open. It wouldn't budge, so Pam started pounding the wood with her fists, shouting for someone, _anyone_ to hear.

"Help!" Pam screamed, pounding on the door so hard that she was sure her knuckles would bleed. "Help! Get us out of here!"

She didn't realize that tears were running down her cheeks. She kept pounding on the door, screaming and crying for someone to hear them. Kelly was just sitting off to the side, shaking and staring at nothing in particular. Both women were in shock.

Pam probably would have kept on pounding forever if someone hadn't suddenly grabbed her arms from behind. She panicked and struggled against the stranger for a second before she heard a hushed, "Whoa, Beesly. Calm down, it's me!"

It was Jim. He lessened his grip, and Pam turned around to stare at her friend with wide eyes. She felt a small sob escape her lips upon seeing him. He was still here.

He hadn't left her.

"Jim, I... I don't... he just- -" Pam stuttered out, her throat choked with distress.

"Shh. I know, I know." Jim whispered. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders protectively, and she buried her face in his sweater, crying. They held on to each other for only a few seconds before Jim broke it.

"Pam." Jim said, suddenly urgent. He gripped her by the shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "Pam, we have to get out of here. It's not safe. I don't know what's going on exactly, but there's _something_ in here that wants to kill us all."

Pam just looked at her friend, defeated. "Jim... that's Ryan."

Jim blinked, confused. "What?"

"Ryan. He's the one trying to kill us."

Pam knew how ridiculous she had just sounded, and it showed on Jim's face. "That's impossible. Why would he- -?

"-Because he's sick." Kelly suddenly interrupted. Jim and and Pam looked over at her, surprised. Kelly was still sitting in the same position she had been for the last 5 minutes or so, but she had stopped shaking. She just had a dead look in her eyes as she stared blankly into space. She didn't continue.

"An illness caused him to try to kill us?" Pam asked questioningly, glancing over at Jim. Jim merely shook his head, urgent once again.

"I don't know, but what I _do_ know is that we need to find a way out now." Jim took Pam by the wrist, trying to drag her toward where he thought another exit was. Pam motioned for Kelly to follow, which she did reluctantly.

The trio moved through the warehouse as quietly as possible, keeping an eye out for Ryan or maybe anyone else who was left behind. Jim led them along the walls, looking for maybe a door or a window they could escape through. The whole place was dead silence, with most of the lights still on, though some of the bulbs had been smashed into bits. Kelly just stuck close to the other two, glancing around the giant shelves that, before, looked completely innocent, but now looked like monsters bearing down on them. She shivered.

After several minutes of silent searching, the three of them heard a quiet sound up ahead:

'Pssssst...'

Jim froze, and Pam and Kelly immediately scurried behind him for protection. They heard it again:

'Psssst... Jim... Pam...'

They saw a shadowy figure emerge toward them from the shelves. Jim audibly gulped.

"Who's there?" He said, a panicked edge to his voice.

The figure stepped toward them, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Michael.

"Guys," Michael whispered, wide-eyed. He looked awful- his tie was undone and his hair disheveled. His face was pale, with sweat glistening on his forehead, although he looked immensely relieved when he saw them.

"Oh my God, am I glad to see you!" Michael moved swiftly forward and hugged Kelly round the middle. Kelly's sad eyes held a hint of surprised disgust as she looked at her boss clinging to her so desperately. She looked over at Jim and Pam.

"Michael, are you the only other one here?" Pam asked, stepping forward and prying her boss away from Kelly. She, like the Jim and Kelly, had been worried that they were the only ones who were still down in the warehouse. She was obviously grateful that Michael was here, although she was kind of hoping for someone else to be here too.

"No... no there are a few more of us." Michael whispered, rubbing a hand over his sweaty face. "C'mon."

Michael turned around and began to head in the direction he had come. Jim and Pam exchanged a glance before following him, Kelly clinging to Pam's arm for safety.

He led them to the area where Pam and several other office workers were playing craps before Ryan had appeared.

"Michael?" Someone whispered from the table.

There were four people standing there; people that Pam knew, unfortunately: Oscar, Creed, Angela, and Dwight. She stopped in front of them, along with Jim and Kelly.

Angela was the one who had spoken before. She stepped forward. "Hey, you three: are you okay?" There was a scared, somewhat caring tone to her normally condescending and bitter voice. They all obviously welcomed the change.

"We're fine." Jim answered from behind Pam. Kelly shivered from Pam's side.

There was a short pause where everyone present was trying to grasp the gravity of their situation.

"Does... does anyone know exactly what happened?" Angela whispered out, glancing around at her seven companions.

Oscar gave a humorless laugh, looking at his deskmate with an incredulous eye. "You _know_ what happened, Angela. You saw it as well as we did-"

"-Well, I'm just having a hard time processing it, okay?" Angela snapped, sounding much more like her usual self.

"We're all having a hard time thinking about it." Michael whispered, his face even paler than before. He was obviously taking Ryan's unexpected insanity pretty hard.

"Look, guys- we shouldn't worry about that right now. We should think about getting all of us out as safely and as quickly as possible." Pam stepped forward, the center of their small group.

"But what if we run into...?" Kelly trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

No one answered.

Oscar eventually stepped forward. "We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way." he suggested.

"-But I don't think any of us should go alone." Pam insisted, looking at Jim for confirmation, and he nodded. He took a quick head count.

"Right. There are eight of us, so I think we should split up into pairs. Pam...?" He looked down at her, and Pam immediately went to his side, immensely thankful that he asked her first to go with him.

"I'll go with Angela." Dwight looked down at the blonde, giving her a small smile, which she returned.

"I can go with Oscar, here." Creed stepped forward, clapping a hand on Oscar's shoulder. Oscar looked over at him and pressed his lips together, nodding.

Kelly only hesitated for a second before walking up to Michael and hooking an arm with his. They looked at each other and he gave her a small, encouraging smile.

"Okay..." Jim said, clapping his hands together and nodding, encouraged. "Dwight, Angela: you can look along the north wall for an exit. Michael, Kelly: you guys can check the door up to the offices. Pam and I will look for a side door, and you two..." Jim pointed to Oscar and Creed, "- -Could you find a flashlight or a power box so we could have some light?" For he had just noticed that most of the lights had mysteriously gone out while they were talking. If it was unsettling to him, he didn't show it.

"No problem, boss." Creed nodded. Jim nodded back.

"Okay, great. Well... good luck to you all, then."

Everyone glanced at their assigned partners, took a deep breath, and each pair began to head in their respective directions.

Jim looked over at Pam. "You ready?"

Pam smiled wearily. "As I'll ever be."

Jim smiled sympathetically, then led the way to the wall where they were meant to begin looking for their way out.

* * *

Oscar honestly didn't know where Creed was going, but he followed him nonetheless. The old man moved with purpose, as if he knew exactly where he was going. Oscar occasionally had to jog to keep up with him, which he chose not to mention aloud.

"Where... are we going, exactly?" Oscar puffed, catching up to Creed (for he had suddenly stopped and was searching around the ground for something).

"Looking for flashlights." Creed said simply. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "They're not here." he mumbled to himself, confused.

"Wait- you put flashlights down here beforehand?"

"Yep. And mace, for just such occasion as this." Creed looked around the area again. "Y'know, I may have planted some over by the bailer..." He trailed off, and turned around, heading back in the direction they came.

"All right." Oscar sighed to himself, deciding not to push the matter. He merely turned around and jogged after him, hopeful that there really were flashlights by the bailer. It was getting darker by the minute down there...

* * *

"Dee?"

Dwight, who had been feeling around the north wall for an exit, looked over at the worried-looking woman at his side. "Yeah, Monkey?"

Her voice shook when she spoke, "What if we never get out of here?"

Dwight took his hand off of the wall and walked over, placing his hands on Angela's shoulders. He looked at her seriously. "I love you, Angela, and I would never let anything happen to you. I promise, I _will _get you out of here safely."

Dwight moved one of his hands up and placed it on her cheek as he spoke, and Angela couldn't help but smile. She loved Dwight, and she trusted him. She knew he meant what he said.

Her eyes shone with affection as she whispered, "Thank you, Dee."

Dwight smiled, bringing his hand back down to his side. "No problem, Monkey."

* * *

"Hey Kelly... what's that?"

Kelly, who was glancing around the entire warehouse and wondering if Michael and her were heading in the right direction, turned to look at what Michael saw. He was pointing at something on the ground, but she couldn't see what through the dark. Kelly moved forward hesitantly, and leaned down to get a closer look.

"Oh my God..." Kelly placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"What? What is it?" Michael flew to Kelly's side and peered down at the object along with her.

Kelly merely picked up the item- a tie.

"Ryan's tie." Kelly straightened up. Michael and her exchanged a glance.

Before they could say another word, however, they heard a movement behind them. Kelly and Michael whipped their heads around and what they saw made their hearts stand still.

Kelly opened her mouth, and let out a piercing scream.

* * *

The second they heard her scream, Jim and Pam gave each other a look of panic. They sprinted off in her direction, with horrible thoughts flashing through their minds. They ran and ran, glancing wildly around, for they had no idea where Kelly and Michael were. They dodged around boxes and shelves, still not sure where they were running. But then Kelly screamed again, this time from their left. Panicking, Pam and Jim turned left and sprinted after the sound.

They turned a corner, and came to a sudden halt, wide-eyed. Kelly and Michael were cowering motionless in the corner. They were staring at something in the shadows of a nearby enclosure, which Pam and Jim immediately recognized to be Ryan.

Pam gave a small squeak of fear, slapping a hand to her mouth, and Jim held protectively onto her elbow. There was a terrible, deathly silence as Ryan just stared at them all...

"Hey! What's going on?" Oscar suddenly burst out from where Pam and Jim entered. He stared wide-eyed at the scene before him as came to a sudden stop beside them.

Everything happened so fast- Ryan shrieked and lept forward, causing both Pam and Kelly to scream at the top of of their voices. Michael had placed himself in front of Kelly, shielding her from Ryan's attack. Jim grabbed Pam by the waist and pulled her back toward safety, stepping protectively in front of her. Oscar merely ducked.

BOOM!

Next second, there was a massive crashing sound, and everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Before anyone knew what had happened, two boxes suddenly toppled out of nowhere, from around the top of the topmost shelf. The boxes hit Ryan on the head with a nasty thunk, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Everyone hesitated a moment before glancing up at where the boxes had fallen from, and noticed Creed had climbed the ladder and perched himself over the shelf. He glanced down to verify that he had hit his target, and nodded, satisfied.

Pam pried herself away from Jim and ran toward Kelly and Michael, who were on the ground and unnmoving. Jim yelled for Pam to wait, and followed her. Oscar hesitantly walked toward the two, skirting uncomfortably around the motionless figure of Ryan. Creed finally hopped down from his ladder and walked over to Kelly and Michael.

The four leaned down over the two.

"Michael?" Kelly mumbled wearily, holding her head. She had apparently fallen in the middle of the confusion and hit it. She blinked and glanced over at Michael, who was just beginning to stir.

"Ugghh..." Michael groaned, slowly getting up into a sitting position. Creed and Jim both grabbed his arms and helped him.

Micheal winced in pain. "Ow! Ow, my leg..." He gritted his teeth, holding tightly onto his ankle. Pam tenderly knelt down and pulled his tattered pant-leg up so she could get a better look. She visibly gasped when she saw the extent of the damage.

"Oh my God..." she whispered, looking up at Jim. Jim looked down at Michael's injury with raised eyebrows, then over at Pam.

Four, bloody teeth-marks in a row cut through his skin.

Ryan had bitten him.


	3. Lockdown

**A/N: Thank you for all the awesome reviews and support:) they really mean a lot.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of interest

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**

Pam just watched as Jim and Creed improvised a bandage out of Creed's pocket handkerchief and wrapped it around Michael's injured ankle. Somehow, through her haze, she realized she was standing and staring down at the three men on the warehouse floor with wide eyes. She didn't know why she felt so weird; it was just a bite. But somewhere, deep down, she knew why those puncture marks on Michael's ankle made her stomach lurch: It was tangible proof that Ryan really had turned on all of them. The smashing of the lights and the shrieking only proceeded to scare them, but the fact that he quite literally attacked them and ended up hurting one of them... Pam shivered, hoping that this nightmare of an evening were to end soon.

Everyone helped Michael up to his feet. "Is that better?" Jim mumbled, with Michael's arm slung over his and Creed's shoulders for support. Michael hopped on one foot, nodding jerkily. He slowly and tenderly put his weight back on his heel, and Jim and Creed slowly pulled themselves away from him so Michael could stand by himself. He wobbled dangerously before Kelly moved swiftly forward and wrapped her arm around his waist, letting him use her as a crutch.

"We should keep moving." Oscar suggested, and the others nodded. With a little help from Kelly, Michael had managed get out from the enclosure and into an open area without much difficulty.

Suddenly, two people burst out from behind a shelf, causing Kelly to scream in surprise. But it was only Angela and Dwight, both panting heavily, and everyone sighed with relief. Jim merely looked at them with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Where were you guys?" he snapped, and Dwight glared back.

"You know it's impossible to maneuver around in this darkness, idiot." Dwight said peevishly, still trying to catch his breath. Jim rolled his eyes, turning back to Michael.

"What's going on?" Angela whispered, hiding protectively behind Dwight. She noticed the unconscious form of Ryan lying several yards away, and her fair skin turned a shade paler.

"Is... is he...?" she stuttered out, pointing a shaky finger in Ryan's direction. Jim shook his head.

"I honestly don't know- -" When he said this, Dwight moved forward to check Ryan's pulse, but Jim stopped him. "- -and I'm not risking any more of our lives to find out. Michael already got bitten after he and Kelly got too close; we're not taking any more chances down here."

Upon hearing about Michael's injury, Dwight immediately rushed over to his boss, who was still leaning heavily on Kelly. Jim, Pam, Creed, Oscar, and Angela merely turned to each other.

"What do we do now?" Pam whispered, looking up at Jim. She guessed that in this critical scenario, he was their leader, which she was all too fine to accept.

Jim rubbed his brow. "I'm not sure, but you're right Pam- - we shouldn't stay here. And I think it would be safest if we all stuck together this time."

Everyone nodded vehemently at this suggestion. They weren't about to separate any time soon.

Dwight and Kelly both helped Michael move around, and the group of workers got by rather easily. They walked in silence, occasionally hearing a police siren or a fire truck go off outside. Jim would sometimes walk ahead of them, looking carefully around for a window or a door they could possibly use as a way out. Every time they encountered a door, he would run up and try to pry it open. They never budged.

"Why would they even be locked from the inside?" Pam moved forward and past Jim, trying to tug at the immobile doorknob. She then lifted her hands and pressed them flat against the wood, either pushing on it with her palms or trailing her fingers over to the frame, inspecting it closely. The others were as stumped as she was.

"Wait a minute..." Pam whispered. She pressed her eye against the crack between the door and its frame before exclaiming.

"Oh my God... guys, I- - I think these doors are _barred_."

Pam turned around to face the others. They all just stared.

"What?" Oscar's mouth dropped open in shock. He pushed past her and pressed his eye against the crack too. It was wide enough so he could see several thick, metal bars running across the frame and the faint gleam of police lights in the background. It certainly looked like they were caged in.

He backed away from the door as the others crammed around it to see for themselves. But before anyone else could say another word, a voice suddenly sounded from outside- - a loud, booming voice, obviously spoken through an amplifier. It sounded as if it were announcing something to the entire business park:

"_Attention to all those outside or in the vicinity of the Local Scranton Business Park: Due to a confirmed and possibly deadly hazard contained in the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company's industrial warehouse, this entire structure has been quarantined until further notice. It is just a cautionary measure, to ensure the safety of those who were inside. The complex has obviously been evacuated.."._

"WHAT?" Kelly and Pam burst out simultaneously, drowning out the rest of the pronouncement. Jim and Creed could only stare at each other with wide, terror-filled eyes.

"They don't know we're down here," Angela panicked. She pressed her hand to her mouth, tears filling her eyes.

"We're dead." Oscar mumbled to himself, an edge of hysteria to his hushed voice. He ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head. "We're not gonna make it out of here. We're dead. We're gonna die in here, trapped like lab rats..."

"Whoa, calm down, man." Jim looked at the accountant, his brow furrowed. "Okay, yeah: this looks bad. But that doesn't mean we should give up hope..."

Oscar whipped his head around to look at Jim, a crazy expression on his face. "What do you mean we shouldn't give up hope? That guy just said that we're in _quarantine_. I don't know what that means to _you_, but by definition, it means that we're all locked in here with a monster for God knows how long!"

"I _know_ what it means!" Jim shouted back, seething. "But what I'm saying is that we shouldn't give up _just yet_! There's bound to be a window or a crawlspace somewhere that we can escape through..."

"What, you think this is a _game _or something? There's probably a barrage of police officers and S.W.A.T teams and CDC officials out there! You don't think they would've covered all their bases and made sure that every possible opening was blocked several times over...?"

"Yeah: they _might_ be out there, but we can't be _entirely sure_! You don't think it's worth it just to keep looking for a possible opening?"

"You're not being realis- -"

THUMP!

Michael suddenly slipped out of Dwight's and Kelly's grasp and fell to the floor with a resounding thud, his eyes sliding up and disappearing into his head, and Jim and Oscar finally stopped jumping down each other's throats to address this crisis.

"Oh my God... Michael!" Kelly wailed, kneeling down beside the man. Everyone else then piled around the two, trying to see for themselves if he was okay.

Michael suddenly flinched awake. His face looked pained.

"Uggghhh..." he moaned, gripping his sides. "Ohh God, I'm gonna be sick..."

The others instinctively jerked back when he said that, not wanting him to get vomit all over them. Angela and Dwight exchanged a glance, with Dwight giving a look of extreme worry. Pam, Jim, Oscar, and Creed couldn't tear their eyes from the form of Michael writhing on the floor in agony.

Kelly merely stayed kneeling where she was, staring at Michael.

She finally whispered out: "Is it your stomach?"

Wincing, Michael nodded.

Kelly suddenly cupped her hands over her mouth, giving a muffled sob. She quickly got up and turned away, pacing and whispering under her breath. Jim and Pam just glanced at each other.

"Oh God... this isn't good. Why didn't I listen...? Oh God, this is bad..."

Jim approached her tentatively. "Uh... Kelly? What's wrong?"

Kelly turned to Jim, her eyes filled with tears. She slowly brought her hands down from her mouth, and she bit her quivering lip anxiously. "Michael's symptoms... the pain, and the stomachache..." She paused, then took a shuddering breath. "...Well, Ryan complained of those exact same things before we left."

Her words seemed to hang suspended in the air after she spoke them, casting a stunned silence among all those present. The quiet seemed to press against everyone's eardrums, and Pam could've sworn she could hear everyone's heartbeat ticking in rapid succession. Jim froze, just staring at Kelly, whose hands went back to her mouth, as if she wished she hadn't said anything. Her moist eyes moved from Jim's, and down over to Michael, whose face had gone as sickly ashen as parchment.

Everyone's eyes then turned to Michael too. No one could look away.

Michael merely whimpered with pure fear. He brought a shaky hand up, and covered his mouth while gasping slightly in pain. His eyes stared back at the others, wide with panic and heartbreak at knowing his fate.

No one else could do anything. And that's why they only stared.

Michael finally brought his hand down, wincing once again as the stabbing pain shot through his gut again. He gripped his stomach before whispering raspily. "Please, guys... just leave me here. I'll be fine, just please leave me..."

That seemed to break the hypnotic trance the others were in, and they immediately began protesting. Tears glistened in Pam's eyes as she shook her head over and over. Oscar's and Jim's voices overlapped loudly once again, but this time as a united front against their boss.

"Michael: no. We're not leaving anyone behind..."

"This may not be what you think it is, Michael. It could just be an infection or something from the puncture..."

"Please, just don't give up yet."

Michael kept shaking his head and arguing and wincing in pain. While Oscar insisted that he may have just hit his stomach when he fell, Michael's eyes suddenly widened with panic.

"Hold that thought," he mumbled before scrambling toward a nearby box and immediately retching inside of it. Oscar and Jim merely froze when seeing this, and Kelly turned away, mumbling 'Oh God, oh God, oh God.' under her breath many times.

Michael coughed and spit into the box several times before he emerged, pale-faced and shaking. Kelly gasped when she turned back around and noticed his face.

"Michael, your... your mouth..."

Michael blinked and lifted a hand, touching his lips with his forefinger where a dribble of shockingly bright red had escaped from his mouth. He saw the blood on his fingertip, and froze.

That finally seemed to set some of them off. Kelly and Creed both spoke at the same time:

"- -Jim, we gotta get out of here."

"- -Jimmy, we have to move _now_."

Jim glanced, panicked, between the two before looking down a Michael, still on the ground. He gulped uneasily, then sighed. "You're right."

"No- - they're not!"

Everyone turned in surprise as Pam stomped forward and placed herself in between her and the others. She turned her back to Michael to face the small group of people with her hands on her hips, a look of fierce determination on her face.

"We're not just going to leave him here, completely helpless. We have to bring him with us..."

"Pam," Kelly said urgently, stepping forward. "Seriously, we can't stay here! He's got whatever disease Ryan has- -!"

"I don't care!" Pam shouted, silencing the other woman. "He's our friend and we owe it to him to get him and all of us out of here as quickly as possible- -!"

Michael suddenly started to breathe heavily. No one took notice at first.

Oscar stepped forward, calm for a change. "Pam: your not thinking rationally. Michael's obviously sick, and we can't take any chances- -"

"- -This is _Michael_, though! He's our friend and colleague and we can't just abandon him like this!"

"Pam- -"

Michael slowly began to get to his feet.

"I'm sorry, but my mind is made up..."

"No, Pam- -"

"No, Dwight, we're not leaving him here!"

Michael reared.

"NO, PAM! DUCK!"

Dwight suddenly lept forward and grabbed Pam by the waist, tackling her to the ground just as Michael pounced at her. Everyone screamed and ducked as Michael stumbled as he missed his target and toppled into the palette stacked with boxes feet away from the others. He shrieked with anger as he tried to fight his way out of the mess of cardboard.

They only had moments before he would be at them again, and Jim knew it.

"RUN!" he screamed as loudly as his voice would allow.

And with that, the seven scrambled to their feet, spun around, and ran like there was no tomorrow.


	4. Hopeless

**A/N: So sorry for the slight delay everybody! Those fourth of July fireworks weren't going to watch themselves...**

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Office, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction about it. But, since I don't own anything, here we are. Though I'd say it's a pretty fair trade:)

* * *

**

"Wait, guys..." Oscar suddenly stopped running, and the others stopped along with him, panting. Jim was hunched over, gasping and looking up at Oscar.

"What? What is it?" he gulped. The others looked up at the accountant, all gasping for air.

Oscar's face was flushed, his eyes wide and his ears pricked. "I... I don't hear anything."

Everyone seemed to hold their shallow breath as they listened, too. They were met with dead silence.

"Thank God." Kelly sighed, closing her eyes. They had stopped by a wall, and she leaned against it, sliding slightly down it as her knees buckled weakly.

"That doesn't necessarily mean we're safe." Pam stated bluntly, biting her lip.

No one said anything after that. Silence hung over them like a veil as everyone tried to catch their breath at the same time trying to figure out where exactly in the warehouse they were. Slowly, one-by-one, everyone began to sit down on the cold cement floor, resting their tired legs. Jim noticed Pam sliding her heels off her feet after she sat down, massaging her soles. They looked red and blistered as she rubbed them, wincing. Jim felt a small pang of sadness in his heart at seeing her in pain.

They were silent for what seemed like forever; their minds wrapping around everything that had just occurred.

"Thank you..." Pam suddenly whispered. Everyone's heads turned to her, and Jim noticed that she was glancing at Dwight with a grateful look in her eyes. "...for saving me from Michael when I was too stupid to realize he'd lost it." She looked a little ashamed at her admission. Jim smiled slightly to himself.

"Don't mention it." Dwight said quietly, his eyes blank.

"I still can't believe it, though..." Angela whispered. "I mean... _Michael_..."

"It's not really him," Oscar pointed out. "Someone or something has taken over his body..."

"Whatever _it_ is, it's transferred through saliva, apparently, which indicates some sort of infection. _Not _possession." Dwight said, a little snippy.

"What, like rabies?" Jim frowned at Dwight.

Dwight shook his head. "I honestly don't know. I mean, it's the same symptoms, but rabies _this_ severe takes months to actually take place- - Michael got symptomatic only minutes after he was bitten."

There was another short silence of consideration, eventually broken by Kelly.

"So what should we do now?" she whispered. Everyone's heads (except Dwight's) turned to Jim for the answer.

_When did I become the leader?_ Jim thought, slightly irritable, but didn't push the subject. These people needed someone to guide them, and he guessed he was as good a choice as any.

"Well..." he hesitated, then sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead. He knew the answer, unfortunately. "... I think maybe we should split up again and search for a way out."

His suggestion was met with a torrent of debate. The six other office workers immediately began to argue with Jim, speaking loudly over each other, saying that he was crazy and that they should stick together no matter what. Jim ran his hands through his hair tiredly.

"_Look_..." He interrupted them angrily, and they quieted. "Our main priority is for all of us to get out as safely as possible. We can get it done more quickly if we split up into pairs like we did before and spread out. Also, it would be safer, for if we were to run across Michael or Ryan again- -" He paused for a second, "- - it would be easier for us to escape if they were to only find two of us rather than six. Right?" He looked at them all expectantly, his eyebrows raised.

The others remained quiet, though some nodded reluctantly.

"Good." Jim nodded decidedly too. "So, I was thinking we should split up into the same pairs as before, except, um... Kelly..." he trailed off awkwardly, then glanced around the small group, as if silently asking what they should do with her. Kelly merely looked down.

"She can come with us." Oscar offered, indicating him and Creed. Kelly glanced over at him, and gave him a weak smile, which he returned. Creed merely stared off into space, not acknowledging either of them.

"Okay." Jim nodded, and he made a move to stand up. The others followed suit. "... And to be on the safe side, I think each pair should have a weapon of some sort for protection."

The more wary members of the group gave a small breath of relief. They, like Jim, would feel a whole lot better with some method of defense. But there was only one problem- - where would they even manage to find a suitable weapon down here? They would have to do their best. Jim searched around in the dark and found a staple gun and the shipping tape dispenser on one of the shelves. He lent the tape dispenser to Pam. Creed found a broom leaning against the wall, and snapped it in half, making sure the newly-formed end of his weapon was extra-splintery. Kelly reached into her purse (which she managed not to lose in their mad dash for safety) and gripped her nail file in her hand. Dwight merely grabbed his extra bottle of mace from his back pocket.

Once they were armed and ready, they all set out in different directions. Creed, Oscar, and Kelly all went toward the south wall, and Dwight and Angela headed to the right-hand side of the warehouse. After they had all left, Jim looked over at Pam.

"Ready to do this again?"

Pam grimaced humorlessly. "Oh, you know it."

"Stay behind me." Jim instructed, and Pam obliged. They then gripped their impromptu weapons in their hands, braced themselves, and took off into the unknown.

* * *

"C'mon, Monkey- - we have to hurry!"

"Ouch, Dwight- - you're hurting my arm! Where are we going?"

Dwight impatiently stopped and turned around to face his girlfriend, letting go of her arm. "We don't have much time, Angela! Ryan or Michael could appear at any moment..."

Angela still looked puzzled for a moment before it dawned on her. Her mouth dropped open slightly, her eyes wide, before she began to adamantly shake her head. "No, Dwight. Absolutely not. "

"Why not?" Dwight hissed. "I promised you that I would get you out of here safely, and now I can! That window we found before isn't blocked by the Feds, it's perfect...!"

"- - But it's not _viable_." Angela insisted. "It's much too small, and we're not even sure it can open..."

"Well, we can easily throw something through the glass if it comes to that..."

"There was a reason we decided not to tell the others," Angela said firmly. "We didn't want to get anyone's hopes us. Including ours."

"Monkey, please..." Dwight pleaded, moving forward and placing his hands on her shoulders. He looked deep into her eyes. "I said it before: I will not rest before I have gotten you out of here safely. Can we please just go there and see if it's usable?"

Dwight looked at her pleadingly for a second before Angela finally sighed. "Fine, we'll go. But if I even manage to make it out safely, what will you tell the others?"

"Let me worry about that." Dwight insisted. "Right now, let's just think about getting you out of here..."

With Dwight in the lead, the pair moved swiftly through the warehouse; dodging around debris and boxes, rounding shelves, and keeping a wary eye out for anything moving in the shadows. They finally arrived at a little alcove to the right of the giant shipment door where they had first seen Ryan in monster-form. The alcove mostly contained stacks of unused boxes that reached about halfway up to the high ceiling.

"Stay close." Dwight ordered his girlfriend. He then moved swiftly forward, glancing around him, and started shifting a few of the boxes at the base around. Angela watched warily from behind him, biting her lip.

Then, after shifting the final box away, there revealed, at the base of the wall behind the stack, a small, grimy-looking window. It looked dilapidated and rarely used and, as Dwight had already said, was unguarded. It could have easily been mistaken for part of the wall.

"Are you sure about this, Dwight?" Angela asked hesitantly, staring at the disgusting window with a wary look in her eyes. The window was small, but she knew as well as Dwight that her petite frame could easily squeeze through it.

Dwight looked over at her. "Absolutely." he said fiercely before kneeling down and inspecting every inch of the window, searching for some way to open it. At the bottom he found a rusty latch, which he could easily unlock, therefore opening the small window. In a matter of seconds, the grimy glass was unhooked and pushed to the side, and Angela could feel the cool, night air bite at her ankles.

Dwight looked over at her. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Angela looked down at her potential freedom for a a brief second more before turning and walking briskly over to Dwight, placing her hands on his shoulders. She stood on her tippy toes and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead.

"Stay safe." She whispered when she was eye-level with him again. Dwight smiled slightly down at her before nodding once.

"My cell phone's in my car: I'll call you as soon as I get the chance, so you'll know I'm okay..."

"Thank you, Monkey." Dwight said gratefully, patting his suit pocket where he held his cell phone.

Angela then sighed, dropped her hands to her sides and turned toward the window, kneeling down and squirming her way out of the opening. Police officers immediately swarmed around her, asking dozens of shouted questions, with Angela's answers barely audible over it all. It was a whole mess of sound and lights and confusion, and Dwight merely stayed where he was.

"Seal the exit!" Someone outside barked.

And with a loud, metallic clang, a titanium door slammed over the tiny opening, blocking out every hint of the faint light that had briefly filtered into the dark, now-silent warehouse.

* * *

"I have an idea." Jim suddenly whispered, stopping in his tracks.

Pam, who was still right behind him, didn't notice he had stopped. She bumped straight into him, gasping in surprise.

Jim quickly turned around to face her, concerned. "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. What's your idea?"

Jim's chewed his bottom lip, glancing to his left. "We've been looking for a way out for a time, and it seems to be getting darker in here..."

"- - I'll say." Pam quipped humorlessly, glancing around the shadowy warehouse.

"... Maybe we could head over to Darryl's office and try to find a flashlight or something?" Jim looked down at the brunette, shrugging. In the shadows, her pale features and sparkly dress seemed to glow, and Jim's heart sped up as she bit her lip apprehensively.

"Wait- - so, we're giving up?" she whispered, her soft voice almost heartbroken. Her green eyes looked up at Jim with fear and slight panic.

"Don't think of it that way..." Jim consoled, but it was too late. Tears had started filling Pam's eyes, and she quickly turned away from him, pressing a shaky hand to her mouth. Jim suddenly hated himself for saying something so stupid. Now she was crying, and Jim's heart seemed to break in a million pieces upon seeing her like this.

"No, Pam! I didn't mean it that way..." Jim quickly placed a hand on her quivering shoulder, feeling her soft skin underneath the sparkly fabric of her dress. "I just thought that we could go over to Darryl's office and look for some flashlights or something before continuing our search. We're not giving up..."

Gulping, Pam turned back to Jim, giving a weak smile. "No, I... I know that's what you really meant. I just- -" she paused, giving a long, shaky sigh. "- - I guess tonight is just really taking a toll on me, that's all." She then shook her head, looking down and chuckling. "Wow, I feel really ridiculous..."

"No." Jim immediately protested, looking her in the eye. "You're not being ridiculous, Pam. Several coworkers-turned-monsters have tried killing us several times within the past hour: you've a right to be upset."

Pam smiled, wiping away her final tear. "I know, but still..." she sucked in a deep breath, then let it all out, "I gotta keep it together."

Jim gave her a reassuring smile; one he hoped would cheer her up. "So... you're good? Should we go to Darryl's office, then?"

Pam nodded once. "Yes, we should."

During the journey to the foreman's office, Pam hand held on to Jim's and she refused to let go. Jim was completely fine with that.

After several long minutes, they came to the outside of the small cubicle that was Darryl's office. Jim reached for the knob, and turned it- - the door mercifully swung open.

"Finally- - a door that isn't locked." Pam whispered, only half-joking. Jim chuckled all the same.

Once they were both inside, Jim quickly turned around and quietly shut the door behind them. He then made doubly sure that the blinds were set completely over the windows before switching on the light.

The brightness seared at both their eyelids, and they quickly covered their pupils with their hands.

Jim laughed. "O sweet, burning light: how we've missed you!"

Pam giggled, bringing her hand down and blinking, adjusting her eyes to the change. "So- - what are we looking for again?"

"Flashlights, walkie-talkies, first-aid kit, or anything else you think would be of some use for us around here..." Jim also brought down his hand, blinking. He immediately walked over to Darryl's desk and started rifling through it. Pam quickly headed over to one of the shelves and began searching there.

For a long time, the two searched around the entire office silently, only occasionally speaking up when they found something of interest. So far, Jim had found one broken walkie-talkie and a hammer, which he pocketed while throwing away the staple gun. Pam found a flashlight behind one of the file cabinets and the first aid kit on top of the corner shelf.

"Jim?" Pam asked after a couple more minutes of searching.

"Mmm?" Jim was hunched under Darryl's desk, looking for anything else of use. He poked his head back up when he heard Pam speak however.

Pam absentmindedly smoothed down her dress. "What do you think is going on exactly?"

Jim pushed himself up heavily, brushing himself off. He sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine, Pam."

Pam shrugged a shoulder, and looked down. "I know: you don't really know what's happening either. But... I'm just trying to make sense of all this, and..." Pam trailed off, shaking her head.

"... You can't." Jim finished. He leaned thoughtfully against a nearby shelf, and sighed through his nose. "Y'know, I think what Dwight was saying back there made a lot of sense..." he glanced over at Pam and she gave him a puzzled look, "... when he mentioned that they probably have some sort of infection or something."

Pam knit her eyebrows, thinking. "What sort of infection does _that_ to people?"

Jim was silent, about as knowledgeable as she was on the subject.

During the contemplative quiet, both could hear a faint scratching sound nearby. It wasn't coming from inside the small office, but it was near enough outside to make Pam and Jim both give each other stares of pure terror.

"What was that?" Pam mouthed, her eyes as round as dinner plates.

The sound got closer.

Jim quickly sprang into action: he rushed to the far end of Darryl's desk and began pushing with all his might toward the door, hoping to block it off. Pam rushed to help him.

They pushed and pulled and tugged for a bit before the heavy desk was securely placed across the door. Panting, Jim and Pam both smiled weakly at each other, thinking they were safe...

Then suddenly, without warning, the lights went out.

Pam gave a soft scream of shock and fear. Jim almost gasped, but managed to keep quiet as his eyes quickly darted here and there. All that surrounded them was dark.

"Jim...?" Pam said in a nervous, shaky voice. "Jim, where are- -?"

"Shh!" Jim quickly shushed. He followed her scared voice and reached out a hand, managing to find her shoulder in the blackness. He held her protectively close while keeping his ears pricked for any other sound...

"Jim..." Pam squeaked uneasily.

"Shh!" Jim hissed again, bringing up his other hand quickly pressing it over her mouth. Pam gave one more muffled yelp before falling silent.

They both stopped moving; stopped breathing. They were completely silent as they listened...

They could definitely hear a scraping sound coming closer, as if somebody was walking toward them and didn't pick up their feet. Pam shivered under Jim's grip, and he could feel a hot tear rolling down her cheek and onto his hand that was still held firmly over her mouth.

"Oh God..." Jim breathed. Pam whimpered.

THUMP!

A loud blow to the locked door caused the two to jump and shout in surprise. Pam gripped onto Jim's sweater with all her might, eyes wide. The sound came again:

THUMP!

"Grab the flashlight!" Jim whispered urgently, letting go of Pam. She immediately obliged, dashing toward where the desk and their things were.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Whoever or whatever was at the door started pounding, over and over, with all it's might. Pam screamed, almost dropping the flashlight, but Jim quickly moved over to her and grabbed it, switching it on. The light coming from it was dim, but at least it was light. Jim directed the beam over to the door as it shook and rattled with tremendous force.

But then, all of a sudden, the noises stopped altogether. After a second or two, Jim and Pam finally glanced at each other, unnerved. They didn't say a word.

CRASH!

Pam screamed as the glass window that was to the left of the door suddenly smashed, a toolbox flying through it while tearing the blinds covering it in half. Broken glass flew in every direction, and Pam quickly covered her face, turning away. Tiny pieces sprayed at her and Jim, scraping every inch of exposed skin and getting caught in their hair.

That was the least of their problems, however. Jim could see the darkened outlines of Michael and Ryan angrily stumbling closer to the window. There was a third outline behind them, but Jim couldn't make out who it was.

Jim looked around and focused the light on a frightened-looking Pam, standing stiff as a board near the corner of the office. Jim, glancing wildly around, came to a decision.

"Help me with that." Jim ordered, directing the light toward a nearby file cabinet. Pam quickly ran forward to help him. He moved forward too, grabbing one end of the cabinet, quickly clamping the lit flashlight in between his teeth so they could still see what they were doing.

"Lift!" Jim managed to shout, and both he and Pam managed to pull up the heavy file cabinet an inch or two off the ground. Grunting, they heaved it over to the window and dropped it heavily in front of it. They then gave it an extra push for safe measure.

Michael gave a terrible shriek at them and clumsily began climbing through the, now, smashed-open window. Jim, knowing the file cabinet wouldn't keep them out forever, quickly ran to his left and grabbed Darryl's discarded desk chair. He quickly heaved it up and threw it at Michael, sending him flying back out of the window and to the ground with a nasty thud.

Pam barely had time to give a strangled cry of triumph before Ryan gave began working his way in. He savagely ripped the blinds off the holder, shrieking.

Pam screamed, pressing her back against the farthest wall. She knew as well as Jim that they were trapped. They had already blocked the door and Ryan was coming toward them through the one window. There was no way out.

Jim wasn't giving up, however. He grabbed whatever he could find and threw it at Ryan: the flashlight, the walkie-talkie, books, and even the toolbox. But each one Ryan either dodged or blocked. He kept getting closer.

Pam quickly grabbed Jim's arm as he was about to throw the desk lamp at Ryan, and pulled him down. Ducking, she dragged him to a secluded corner in an attempt to protect themselves as much as possible. Jim sat with his back pressed against the wall, and Pam merely curled into a ball next to him and ducked her head down in between her knees.

Ryan, finally not hindered by flying staplers or notebooks, began to make his way through. He started to pull himself into the office, clawing away pieces of glass in his way that still stuck to the windowpane. He growled from the back of his throat.

Pam whimpered, and Jim quickly gathered her up in his arms protectively. Pam held onto him for dear life, burying her face in his sweater. Jim placed his hand on the back of her head, her dishevelled curls tangling in his fingers.

Ryan growled again, and gave another, deathly shriek.

Pam, shaking, looked up at Jim with her face pale and her eyes bright with pure terror. "I guess this is goodbye." she whispered, her lip trembling.

A loud smash suddenly sounded when Ryan shoved over the file cabinet.

And then, without warning, Jim decided to take this moment to grab Pam by both sides of her face and press his lips against hers. Her lips were salty from sweat, but Jim still thought they were the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted. Pam, shocked at first, quickly complied, and closed her eyes while folding under his embrace. He opened his mouth against hers and everything that was going on: the monsters, quarantine, and imminent death didn't seem to matter anymore. Pam sighed contentedly into him as he touched his tongue to her teeth...

SMACK!

The sickening sound of metal against a human skull caused Jim and Pam back to reality. They broke apart to look at what had happened, and saw with surprise that Dwight had suddenly showed up at the window, and it appeared he had whacked Ryan across the head with a metal fold-up chair. Panting, climbed through the open hole through the glass and dropped the chair at his feet while staring at the unconscious form...

"Dwight." Pam whispered after a shocked silence. He looked over at her, and she merely looked back with a look of frozen surprise. "You just saved our lives again." She sounded completely dumbfounded, and Dwight rubbed his forehead wearily. He moved toward her and held out his hand, offering to help her up.

"Yeah, well... you guys would've done the same for me." He mumbled, pulling Pam to her feet. Jim pushed himself up too, glancing around the small, trashed office with despair.

"C'mon." Dwight quickly motioned for the two to follow him. All three climbed through the open window, Jim helping Pam through with her heels. When they were all safely on the ground, they began trekking forward. But a few steps in, and Pam suddenly stopped.

"Dwight." she said quickly, looking down at something on the ground. Dwight turned to look at her.

"Is that- -?" she stuttered out, pointing. Dwight saw what she was pointing at, and sighed, nodding.

"Yeah."

Jim moved closer to have a look, and gasped.

"And was he...?" she glanced up at Dwight, and he nodded again.

"Yeah." he mumbled again.

Oscar was lying, unconscious, on the ground in front of them: the third victim.


	5. Why We Do The Things We Do

**A/N: Thank you for all the awesome reviews! They make me smile:)**

**This chapter actually contains more JAM fluff than last chapter. It kind of makes my stomach turn to write so much fluffiness for a couple I don't technically ship, but I do it for you guys. Because you are, quite honestly, the reason I write:) Love is a crazy, crazy thing sometimes... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Office or its affiliates.

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**

Jim was searching along the debris and glass-ridden warehouse floor for the flashlight he threw out the window, and Dwight was hanging annoyingly over his shoulder while checking for bites. But all Pam could do was stand frozen where she was and stare down at the unconscious form of Oscar Martinez, lying face-up on the ground with his blood-red eyes wide open and blank. He wasn't dead, but Pam still couldn't squash that terrible feeling in her stomach; a feeling that she might end up just like Oscar: insane, dangerous, and lying unconscious and bloody on the ground of their industrial warehouse. She didn't even budge from the position she stood in as Dwight moved over to her and started prodding and poking her in random places.

"Leave her alone! We're both fine, okay?"Jim rounded on him, brandishing the resurrected flashlight in his hand.

Dwight scowled at him, carefully jabbing Pam's side in the process. "We're better safe than sorry. We don't want to have another 'incident', do we?"

Jim quieted. He and Dwight both glanced over at Oscar, then at Pam, who was still staring, wide-eyed, at their colleague's body.

"Pam?" Jim walked over, so he was standing next to her and the unconscious form on the ground. He lowered his head, trying to meet her gaze, but she still kept her eyes down...

"Pam!" Jim put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn and look at him. That seemed to snap her out of it, and she quickly blinked, her eyes darting up to meet Jim's.

"Are you okay?" Jim whispered, taking his hand off of her.

Pam visibly gulped, her eyes then darting to his lips. "Yeah... yeah I'm fine. Just a little shaken, that's all..." her eyes quickly flit away, her face reddening.

"We should keep moving." Dwight insisted from behind them. Jim nodded, then looked over at Pam, whose eyes had turned back to Oscar.

"Pam?" Jim asked again.

It seemed like a terrible effort for her to finally pull her eyes away from him again and look up at her companions, a tear or two glistening on her cheeks. "Yeah, let's go."

Her eyes met Jim's, for only a second, but she quickly looked away. Both couldn't meet each other's gaze for awhile as Dwight marched ahead of them, all their ears pricked for sounds of movement or the shriek of oncoming danger.

The three trouped around the warehouse for several more minutes before ending up at the stairs leading to the upstairs offices.

"Why are we going up there?" Pam asked when Dwight began trudging up toward the door. Her and Jim stayed rooted at the foot of the staircase.

Dwight stopped, then turned around. "We need to find a way to communicate with the police officers outside, and I figured that we would have better chances if we were upstairs and out in the open. We'd be safer too: away from... whatever is going on down here." he gave one sweeping glance around the entire warehouse before looking back down at the pair at the bottom of the stairs.

Jim and Pam nodded, understanding his reasoning. They glanced at each other one last time and climbed up the stairs after him.

~/~

The group was silent as they made their way through the darkness of the hallways, up to the lobby: Dwight in the lead, Pam right behind him, and Jim following up the rear.

Jim kept glancing at the brunette walking a few feet in front of him, and gulped. He couldn't help but scraping his teeth along his bottom lip, remembering the taste of her when, just minutes before, she was pressed against him in passion. He shivered slightly at the memory as they trekked on.

When they finally reached the lobby, Dwight stopped dead in his tracks. Pam and Jim stopped behind him, curious.

"Wow," Dwight whispered, looking toward the front doors. The two behind him stepped in front of him to get a better look.

It was strange. Tinted, though still slightly see-through, tarp completely covered the door and windows; blanketing them all in some sort of creepy, translucent glow. The streetlamps and police lights shone fuzzily from beyond, outlines of people (with what looked horrifyingly like rifles clutched in their hands) ran, crouched down slightly, waving others over toward them. Pam, Jim, and Dwight watched as people ran back and forth across their line of view.

Pam immediately began walking for the doors, but Jim and Dwight quickly grabbed her by the arms, holding her back.

"It's locked." Dwight breathed, jerking his head toward the exit. Sure enough, a heavy chain looped tightly around the handles, sealed with a thick padlock.

"Well, we have to do _something_." Pam insisted, wriggling out of their grasps. "Maybe we could find something heavy and throw it through the glass..."

"No." Dwight said right away. "There's a fully-armed SWAT team out there, and you can be sure that throwing something out of a window is going to cause a panic."

Pam stared at him for a second, then sighed. She silently turned to look out the window, and Jim noticed a slightly longing look dance in her eyes.

"Okay." she finally mumbled, turning back toward them. "Let's keep moving, then."

~/~

The three finally made it to the office, which was mercifully open. They walked in, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Jim felt safe. He actually smiled when his eyes skated across the familiar space, his eyes lingering (possibly for a moment too long) at reception.

Pam immediately walked behind her desk, kicking her left shoe off, then her right. Jim watched her as she sat down in her chair, barefoot, and reached underneath the desk and pulled out her pair of white Keds and two rolled-up socks. Jim got a glimpse of bruised and blistered (yet beautiful) feet before she quickly slipped them into the white socks and then into her trusty sneakers. A look of relief filled Pam's flushed face, and Jim couldn't help but smile at her. Pam looked up at him and grinned back.

Dwight, however, ignored the two and walked over to his desk, picking up the phone and pressing it to his ear.

"Line's dead." He stated simply, dropping the phone back into the receiver. He then ran a hand over his forehead wearily, glancing at his surroundings. He turned around, toward the annex, and sighed, obviously thinking.

"So..." Jim began tentatively. Pam stood up too, looking at Dwight with a worried expression.

"What do we do now?"

Dwight back to his two coworkers. "You guys stay here; I'm going to check out the annex."

"For what?" Jim frowned.

"Another flashlight, walkie-talkies, or anything else that could possibly be helpful."

Pam and Jim glanced at each other and nodded.

"Okay, we'll look around over here." Pam whispered, twisting a finger around her necklace nervously. "But be careful, okay?"

Dwight nodded before turning and stalking off toward the back of the office. He pushed open the kitchen door, and disappeared behind it.

The moment he was gone, the air around Jim seemed to get heavier, laden with words unsaid. Awkwardness hung over both their heads as Pam and him just stood there, silently, looking anywhere but each other. Desperate to ease the uncomfortableness, Jim meandered from reception over to his own desk, hands deep in his pockets and eyes focused on the ground. He casually pulled one hand out and picked up a picture sitting near his computer of Mark and him in college, pretending to study it, hoping that the awkward feeling deep in his stomach would go away...

"Jim?"

Jim almost dropped the picture in his hand as he quickly turned to look at Pam. She was looking up at him, her eyes wondering and sad.

"I think we need to talk."

Jim absentmindedly licked his upper lip, setting the frame back in it's proper place. "You know, I think we're supposed to be looking around for flashlights- -"

"Jim, why?" Pam cut him off.

Jim stopped, then finally met her gaze, her eyes pleading with his. His heart began beating uncomfortably fast.

"Why what?" he croaked out.

Something flashed across Pam's features, though she still spoke softly, almost like a whisper. "Why did you kiss me?" Her lips barely moved, her features practically set in stone.

The dreaded question; Jim wasn't prepared to answer her. He therefore reduced to staring down at his shoes and mumbling an indistinct "I don't know..."

God, he felt like such an ass.

"You don't know?" Pam breathed, just as quietly. Jim looked back up at her.

"I..." he trailed off, then his throat seemed to close up and he couldn't force any choked-out words anymore. Although Pam just looked at him expectantly, and he knew he had to say something...

"I guess... I didn't think I would get another chance to," he muttered, his voice catching ever so slightly.

Pam was silent as she took in this new information. Jim couldn't even look at her; he seemed to be the only able to stare down at his shoes. The quiet seconds ticked by, and neither had said anything yet...

"That's it?" she eventually whispered.

Jim finally looked up at her, confused. "Well, what else do you want to hear?"

Pam's eyes flashed once again, and as she spoke, there was a noticeable hint of anger in her words. "'_What else do I want to hear'_?" she repeated, dumbfounded. "You tell me that you wanted to kiss me because you didn't think you'd get another chance to, and you're wondering why I want you to explain it a little further?"

Jim didn't respond. Pam eventually let out a breath she was holding, and turned away from him. She took a few steps toward the door before pressing a hand to her forehead wearily. She finally spun around to face him completely again, bringing her hand down.

"Just say it, Jim." she shook her head as she looked him in the eye, as if this was the most obvious solution to their problem.

A lump grew in Jim's throat. He didn't say anything.

Pam took a deep breath. "Jim, I am asking you, _kindly_, if could just say it to me..."

"Pam..." Jim suddenly whispered, interrupting, and she looked at him. "Please don't do this..."

"Do what?" her eyes definitely held some sort of annoyance, "Try to find out the truth?"

"You _know_ the truth!" Jim suddenly burst out, his mind spinning in circles, and he looked away. He desperately wished she would drop the subject.

"But I need to hear you say it!" Pam insisted, and Jim turned to face her again. She was staring desperately into his eyes. Still, Jim was silent, and Pam eventually looked down, rubbing her eyes wearily.

"This is ridiculous, Pam." Jim whispered, and she looked back at him. "I mean, we're in _quarantine_..."

"That just means you can't run away from answering." Pam said coolly, raising her eyebrows.

Jim fell silent once again.

"Would you tell me if I asked you?"

Jim sighed and closed his eyes, bringing his hands up and running them both through his hair, as if suppressing a massive headache. He turned away from her, at a loss for words.

"Jim?"

"Pam, please, _please_ just drop it. Just..." he shook his head and trailed off.

Pam shook her head too. "I'm not just letting this go."

"And why not?" Jim turned to face her again, speaking more harshly than he intended.

"Because you _kissed _me!" Pam's eyes widened, and she literally pointed to herself when she spoke. A silence hung in the air as her words seemed to reverberate inside both of them.

"You kissed me..." she repeated, this time more quietly, her imploring eyes still bearing into Jim's.

Jim wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to. He knew she was right. They had been trapped in a corner, awaiting death, and he did the last thing either of them expected anyone to do in that situation, and kissed her. Pam knew it had to mean _something_... her best friend who wasn't supposed to have any romantic feelings toward her wouldn't have kissed her for no reason. If Jim was in Pam's shoes, he'd want answers too.

Pam took a step toward him. "Jim. How do you really feel about me?"

Jim looked away.

"Are you in love with me?"

He was still silent.

Pam shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "Please Jim, I just want the truth."

He looked down at his feet.

"Look Jim: I know that this setting really sucks, with us being trapped in here and with Roy abandoning me and everything. But I want to know, just once, that you- -"

"Yes." Jim cut her off, still looking down.

Pam stopped mid-sentence, staring up at him. Jim finally looked into her eyes, and spoke again.

"Yes, Pam. I'm in love with you."

Pam blinked, as if she had gone dizzy all of a sudden. She sighed through her nose, then gave a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome." Jim whispered back, a weak smile pulling on his lips. Pam giggled softly.

Both fell silent again as they processed what he had just said. Pam slowly turned away, and walked quietly toward Michael's office, her eyes wide and wondering. She eventually stopped in front of his door and turned to look at Jim again.

"Why couldn't you have just told me that?" she mumbled, genuinely curious.

Jim sighed, then shrugged. "I guess... this doesn't really feel like the right time, you know?"

Pam grimaced. "I'm sorry I was so pushy." she gave a humorless chuckle and looked away. "God, I feel like an idiot..."

"No," Jim said immediately. "It's fine, Pam. Really..."

Pam gave him a small smile, but didn't say anything else.

Jim bit his lip, and awkwardly began to speak. "But I want you to know, Pam, that... well, that this doesn't have to... change anything."

Pam knit her eyebrows. "What?"

"I mean, that, well... if we ever get out of here..." Jim glanced uselessly around the dark space around them. "...Things might get awkward, you know?"

Pam stared at Jim, as if she was seeing him for the first time. She tilted her head, confused.

"Why would it be awkward?"

Jim sighed, and smirked to himself. She wasn't going to make this easy. "Well... you have a fiance and I work like five feet away from you..." He trailed off, hoping she would get the point.

Pam frowned at him, looking genuinely confused, and possibly a little hurt. "Jim, why would I make you admit your feelings for me, and then you automatically assume I couldn't even reciprocate them?"

Jim blinked, his lips parted slightly in surprise. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

Jim finally found his voice. "Are... are you saying that- -?

"Jim! Pam! C'mere, I found something!" Dwight suddenly shouted from the annex.

Jim and Pam jumped at the sound of his voice. Both seemed to forget he was even back there. Jim looked at her, then turned his head away slightly, indicating that they should probably get going. Pam nodded, looking a little sad.

"C'mon." she whispered, walking around him and leading the way. Jim slowly got up and followed her.

"What is it?" Pam asked quickly when they arrived. They were shocked to see the contents of both Toby's and Kelly's desks spilled out all over the floor, as if a tornado had ran through there. But both Pam and Jim knew Dwight was just searching for necessities in his normal, thorough way.

Dwight himself was sitting on the floor, in front of Toby's open filing cabinet, it's contents also thrown everywhere on the ground. Jim and Pam began stepping over the paper-coated floor toward their coworker, who was holding a large blueprint in his hands.

"Look at this." Dwight whispered eagerly, quickly standing up and pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"Gimme the flashlight." Dwight insisted, and Jim handed it to him. He clicked it on, and held the light up to the paper.

The three leaned over it.

The blueprint looked just like what Jim suspected: a drawing of some structure he didn't recognize, like an architectural design. But as he examined it closer, he noticed how familiar the stairwell to the side looked, and how well he recognized the the part of the map marked 'third floor'...

"This is our business park!" Pam whispered suddenly, pointing to the label on the bottom.

"Exactly." Dwight nodded. "But that's not what I wanted to show you..." he pointed to three tiny stickers fastened on three different points on the blueprint; red dots with white letter 'E's in the middle of each one. Jim, confused, glanced up at a triumphant-looking Dwight.

"What are those?"

Dwight grinned up at the two. "Emergency Exits."

Pam's mouth fell open, and she looked between Jim and Dwight, as if she couldn't believe her ears. "You mean...?"

"But we're in quarantine." Jim interrupted, sounding completely confused. He looked at Dwight. "Wouldn't _all_ exits be blocked?"

"Maybe." Dwight shook his head. "There's no way of knowing. It's the law that all emergency exits have to be cleared to minimize the hazard, even in quarantine. So these doors might just be guarded, and not barred."

Jim's eyes widened, as his hope swelled. "So...?"

Dwight nodded once, a fierce glow of pride shining in his eyes. "We might just be able to get out of here."

* * *

**Hey, so my best friend finally got me to watch **_**Dear John **_**the other day. I'm just mentioning that because that's probably the main reason why this chapter was so fluffy and off-topic. Don't worry: next chapter shall be much more action-packed.**

**If you liked it, please feel free to review:) If you didn't like it, don't be afraid to tell me. I can handle it, as painful as it may be... **


	6. The First Way Out

**Disclaimer: I only own a totally awesome Dwight bobblehead doll, but other than that, absolutely nothing.

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**

The three took a few minutes to quickly sweep over the darkened annex, checking for anything else they might need, before they headed out. Dwight quickly rolled up the blueprint and stuck it in his back pocket, grabbing the bottle of mace he had left on top of Toby's desk. Pam and Jim couldn't really find anything else of use, though Jim still had the hammer he had swiped from Darryl's office before. It was set against his hip, hanging from his belt-loop, easily accessible if they were confronted by Ryan or someone again.

"Ready?" Dwight turned to the other two now. Jim and Pam nodded once.

"Then let's go."

The three made their way out of the annex and out of the office completely, finally beginning their trek toward their first way out. Dwight had indicated that one of the small stickers atop the blueprint was a fire escape located in Vance Refrigeration, and that's where they were headed now.

Pam followed Dwight's darkened figure through the narrow hallway leading to their neighboring refrigeration company, determined to stick as closely to him and Jim as possible. They had found a possible way out of here, so naturally her heart thumped louder and more quickly with accordance with her nerves. Hundreds of uncertainties burst through her head like fireworks: How long would it be until they were there? _Would_ they even get there? And if they did, would the fire escape even be open? Would the cops believe their stories about how they escaped alive? What if Roy was still out in the parking lot...?

Pam stopped her thoughts immediately when this last question popped up in her brain. She could worry about that when the time came. There was no need to add any more anxiety into her life at the moment.

Pam looked to her left and caught Jim's eye. He smiled assuredly at her, and Pam's anxiously speeding heart thumped even faster.

Dwight suddenly stopped, shushing them, and Pam and Jim quickly halted to a stop behind him too, confused. Dwight seemed to be listening intently for something.

"Someone's coming." he breathed, jaw clenched.

Pam and Jim froze too, their ears pricked for any sound other than their own breathing. After a second or two, the sound came again: a dull, scratching sound, like shoes scuffing on carpet.

The sound came again, and again; closer, and closer each time. Pam whimpered, causing Dwight to shush her once again.

The sound came one last time, directly in front of them, and stopped. There was a pause.

"Who's there?" Dwight barked suddenly, causing both Pam and Jim to jump. A small gasp and a 'shh!' answered back.

Dwight, still gripping the flashlight in his hand, directed the beam to where the sound had come from. The light landed on the ground - two pairs of feet visible in the dim shine. One pair (that most likely made the sound before) were large and scuffed brown. The other was a pair of pink, strappy heels...

"_Kelly_?" Pam whispered uncertainly. The heels shifted, and Dwight directed the flashlight up toward where their faces were.

Kelly's (mercifully) brown eyes peered at them, darting from one face to the other. Creed stood beside her, his pale eyes oddly bright.

"Guys." Kelly breathed, a relieved smile pulling at her lips. She suddenly rushed toward Pam, hugging her tightly. Pam wrapped her arms around the young woman too, feeling comforted by the warm embrace of her friend. Pam closed her eyes, a tear or two escaping her lids as they held on to each other.

Creed moved forward too. "Hey. Are you guys okay?" he asked seriously.

"We're fine." Dwight answered for all of them, and Kelly and Pam finally let go of each other to listen.

"We saw Oscar." Jim whispered, pale-faced.

Kelly gave a little sputter, and Creed's face was stony. Otherwise, they were silent.

"We were heading toward a fire escape in Vance Refrigeration," Dwight quickly said, obviously vying for another subject. "If we hurry, we can make it out of here before anything else comes along."

Kelly and Creed immediately agreed to go with them, eager for a plan that involved them all to escape from this hellhole. The group of five began to head toward the clear, glass door with the blue 'Vance Refrigeration' logo on it.

As they had all secretly feared, it was locked.

"Dammit." Dwight hissed, fruitlessly tugging on the doorknob a few times before kicking the frame savagely. Pam and Jim both sighed disappointedly.

"Move aside." Creed said easily. Without further ado, he walked toward Kelly and pulled her purse out of her hand (Kelly was so shocked about this that she didn't even move, but merely stared at him with wide, reproachful eyes). He dug around inside in for a bit before pulling three bobby pins out. Sticking two in his mouth, he set the bag down and moved over to the handle, one bobby pin still pinched between his fingers, and set to work.

They all watched Creed as he fiddled with the door's lock, with them listening as the bobby pins clicked and tapped busily, when Kelly suddenly turned to Dwight.

"Where's Angela?"

Pam and Jim were also taken aback by this question, but turned to look wonderingly at Dwight too. In all the confusion and proclamations of love, they had completely forgotten about her.

Dwight looked awkward, as if he were reluctant to answer her immediately. He hesitated for a second before saying quietly, "I helped her escape."

Pam's mouth dropped open, Kelly's eyes became wide, and Jim gave an odd little sputter of surprise. They were all staring at Dwight.

"She – She got _out_?" Pam stuttered, hardly believing it.

Dwight nodded.

Kelly and Jim spoke over each other.

"- -How?"

"- -Why didn't you tell us before?"

Dwight looked agitated, staring fixedly at Creed as he worked on the lock. "It wouldn't have mattered. The window could only accommodate Angela's size. And anyway, the police barricaded it as soon as she got out..." Dwight finally looked up at them, "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to give you false hope."

They were all silent; only the delicate '_chink' _of the bobby pin against the metal door handle could be heard. Jim finally whispered out, "You could have just told us that – you didn't have to hide it from us."

Dwight's eyes suddenly held a form of coldness as he gazed at his deskmate. "You didn't ask," he said callously. "But I understand. Your mind was obviously- -" his eyes flicked over to Pam, "- -on other things."

Jim suddenly felt a horrible, sickening sensation in his stomach when Dwight said this. Had he overheard the conversation he and Pam had had in the office back there? It certainly sounded like it. Pale-faced, Jim chanced a glance in Pam's direction, who had a stricken look on her face; a look Jim was sure mirrored his.

Not noticing the sudden tension in the room, Kelly went on. "But when we didn't see Angela with you three when Creed and I came here, we sort of assumed she had become... infected too." her voice shook a little.

Dwight looked at Kelly with what appeared to be shame. "I'm sorry you thought that, but believe me, she is perfectly safe." He glanced around the small group. "But my job now is to get everyone out just as safely. That's actually why we came up here in the first place: to look for any other method of escape we can use."

Kelly seemed to be reassured by his words. She actually gave a weak smile. "Yeah. And it's lucky you guys left the door leading up to the offices open, too, or else Creed and I wouldn't have known you guys were up here..."

The smile on her face faltered when she noticed the look that suddenly appeared on Dwight's. He was pale, and his eyes grew wide as his jaw grew slack, gaping at Kelly.

"What did you say?" he whispered urgently. His sudden change of demeanor caused Pam, Jim, and Kelly to glance around at each other, surprised.

"Um... that you guys left the door open and Creed and I figured you guys were up here?"

Dwight was silent for a moment, before whispering something, probably only to himself. Pam and Jim glanced at each other again, frightened.

"Sorry?" Pam looked worriedly over at Dwight.

Dwight's eyes snapped onto hers, his face still a sickly ashen color. "I closed that door when we came up here."

Pam's stomach gave a tiny lurch at his words, as if she had missed a step walking down a set of stairs. She could only stare at him, hoping against hope that he was wrong...

Before Dwight could even say anything else, however, something sounded from behind them: a noise, much like the slow shuffling that had sounded outside Darryl's office before. When she heard this, everything inside Pam seemed to freeze at the same exact moment – heartbeat, breath, time. About a thousand emotions rushed through her bloodstream as she stood there; the most prominent feeling being absolute, spine-stiffening fear.

"Oh my God." Jim breathed, looking about as tormented as Pam felt.

Something was walking toward them from the hallway in which they had come.

"Got it!" Creed suddenly exclaimed, leaping up as he pushed the glass door open. He didn't seem to realize the potential danger they were in as he turned to the others, grinning.

"Get in!" Dwight hissed, pushing him and Kelly toward the doorway, motioning for Pam and Jim to follow.

All of a sudden, there was a shriek – a horribly familiar one – and a loud thump, as Creed fell through the doorway in shock. Kelly screamed, and stumbled after him, barely managing to stay on her feet. Dwight, Pam, and Jim spun around in their places to see what was going on...

Oscar stood there, slightly shadowed by the darkness. His shoulders were rising and falling rapidly, breathing heavily in a savage sort of way, and Pam noticed his teeth were bared, oddly pointed and stained with something black and dripping. His eyes were a nasty shade of dark red, and (with a small lurch of her stomach) Pam noticed his left ear and temple were soaked with blood. She realized that was probably where Dwight had knocked him out with the folding chair before.

He lunged at them, shrieking, and Pam screamed, instinctively backing away. In a flash, Jim charged in front of her, toward Oscar, and swung his arm around, a shiny silver glint near his hand.

Next second, there was a terrible crunching sound as Jim's hammer slammed into the side of Oscar's skull. Oscar shrieked again, this time in pain, and his body immediately buckled, landing heavily on the ground with a loud thud.

Jim spun around to face the others, his eyes wide and his fist still clutched around the blood-smeared hammer. "Go, go!" he yelled earnestly, chivvying Pam toward the safety of Vance Refrigeration. She stumbled backward through the doorway, her eyes still glued on an unconscious, blood-soaked Oscar. She finally pulled her eyes away as she turned around so she could get into the secluded hallway without falling over Creed, who just pulling himself up off the ground. Jim slipped in beside her, while Dwight was the last one in, glancing around for anything else that may be there, before yanking the door closed. He fumbled with the lock for a second before turning around and facing the others.

"You all okay?" he asked, panting slightly. The others, still in a small amount of shock, nodded weakly.

He seemed to ignore them, however, as he moved forward and began checking them all for bites. And they all let him, without protest; still in awe of the fact that they were alive. They tried not to glance at the bloody, comatose man lying on the other side of the glass door too much as Dwight pulled and tugged at their arms and legs.

After confirming that they were all clean, he insisted they get a move on now toward the fire escape, and they others fervently agreed. The sooner they got out, the better. Helping each other up, they began their slow way toward the other side of the unfamiliar office space.

Dwight was now perusing the blueprint he had pulled out of his back pocket. "This way." he insisted, pointing down a corridor to their right. The others followed down the indicated hallway, their ears pricked for any unusual sounds. For another minute or so, Dwight guided them through the office, his eyes staring avidly at the map. Finally, they arrived at a dead end, and Dwight glanced up from his blueprint, smiling with savage pride.

"We're here."

They had arrived in a sort of storeroom, and Dwight pointed to the lone window in the corner, which Pam realized looked slightly odd. It was roughly the size of a small door, and it's frame was red with white letters written across the middle bar: 'Use In Case Of Emergency'. She knew without a doubt that that was the fire escape.

Dwight and Creed moved swiftly forward, leaving the others standing nervously in the doorway. They watched as the pair of men grabbed the center bar of the window, glanced at each other, nodded, and simultaneously pushed it open...

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" a voice suddenly shouted from outside.

Creed and Dwight both let go, leaping away with their hands in the air, as if the window had burned them. Pam and Jim jumped at the voice too, and Kelly had uttered a small scream. Hearts pounding, everyone started edging around window, trying to see who had yelled.

"Don't... move." the voice hissed menacingly, the point of his gun skirting the border of the window frame. He was hiding out of sight, but they all immediately froze upon seeing that this stranger had a weapon.

"My name is Dwight Schrute." Dwight said clearly, his forearms still raised above his head. "I work for Dunder-Mifflin. There are four others here with me..."

"Are they infected?" the man snapped, his gun still aimed at them. He swiftly moved into their line of vision, sitting on his haunches at his post on the fire escape. The man looked about forty-something, his goatee brushed with flecks of gray. He was wearing a deep black jumpsuit, with black combat boots, belt, and gloves. A dark black helmet complete with chin-strap had the word 'S.W.A.T' written across it in capital, yellow letters. A gas mask was hanging loosely around his neck as he glared at the five of them, shifting his gun over each one at random.

"No... no, none of us are infected." Dwight glanced at the others, who all nodded fervently. Pam felt hope swell in her chest. They might just make it out of here. If only they could convince this one guard that they were sane...

The man seemed to consider them all thoughtfully, before hoisting his gun up and pointing it at Dwight. "How am I supposed to believe your answers?"

"Please, sir..." Pam suddenly pleaded, moving forward. Jim hissed from behind her to keep quiet, which she ignored. "Please, we've been wandering around for hours- -"

But Pam froze mid-sentence as the man pointed his gun at her, her hands raised and her eyes wide with fear. Jim immediately placed himself in front of her.

"Whoa, can we please just talk about this- -?"

But Jim stopped where he was too when the man swerved his gun around at him, shouting 'FREEZE!'. The man suddenly moved one hand from his gun and grabbed a walkie-talkie from his belt. Holding it up to his mouth, he spoke into it: "All units move in."

"Wha – NO!" Dwight shouted earnestly, but the man, shoving his walkie-talkie away, now aimed his gun at Dwight, loading it with a loud click. Dwight's face flushed.

"Back against the wall – all of you!" the man insisted, pointing his rifle at each one of them in turn. They immediately obeyed, Kelly gasping with restrained sobs. When they were all safely against the opposite side of the room, they heard footsteps thundering up the fire escape outside. The man finally began backing away from the window, though his gun was still pointed at them.

"Seal this exit!" The man looked to his left, toward an unseen officer, and jerked his head toward the window.

"NO!" Kelly suddenly wailed, a deathly scream of terror and panic. Her back was still against the wall, however, as if she were chained there. Tears poured down her face as she screamed again:

"NO! PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE US HERE!"

But the officers worked dutifully, like robots. They didn't appear to have heard Kelly as they started sealing the opening with the clear, tinted tarp that was over the front door.

"NO! NO, PLEASE! WE'RE SANE! WE'RE NOT INFECTED!"

Panic filled Pam's chest when she saw the other officers bringing forward iron bars in which to barricade the window with. Pam joined in with Kelly's pleads...

"NO! NO, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US IN HERE!" she screamed desperately over Kelly, who was now sobbing unrestrainedly.

But the officers ignored her as much as Kelly as they simply followed orders, clamping iron bar after bar over their doorway to salvation. They kept working until they finished, and began moving away.

"NO!" Pam, Kelly, Jim, and Dwight all yelled simultaneously. But they might as well have said nothing.

The moment the officers disappeared, Dwight dashed forward and tried yanking the window to open more, but to no extent. The tarp and iron bars bolted in place prevented him from going any further.

"DAMMIT!" Dwight pounded his fist against the metal frame.

A crash suddenly sounded; not from where Dwight was, however, but from behind them, where they had just entered from. Everyone turned toward the door as they listened – footsteps were running toward them, closer every second. Fear seized Pam as she heard the sound: they were trapped in a dead-end.

"We have to- -" Jim began to speak, but was cut off as Oscar, blood-covered and stumbling, burst into the room, shrieking.

Pam and Kelly both screamed at the tops of their voices, shrinking into a corner. Oscar looked horrible; the right side of his head now covered with blood along with his left, and (Pam wanted to throw up) his skull was cracked open where Jim's hammer had hit. But by some terrible miracle, he was still up and walking.

Dwight, Creed, and Jim all leapt forward, ready for attack. Jim swung his hammer, hitting every inch of Oscar he could reach. Dwight blasted him in the face with his mace, causing him to stumble backward, hissing angrily like a snake. Creed reached in his back belt loop and pulled his broom half, brandishing it like a sword. He whacked Oscar around the face, causing a spectacular bruise to bloom on his cheek.

Teeth bared, Oscar shrieked at them again. When Creed's broom handle swung at him again, Oscar actually moved forward and grabbed it out of his hands. Creed, shocked, wrestled with it for a second before it was ripped from his grasp. Triumphantly, it seemed, Oscar swung the weapon around his head like a lasso before flinging it at the three men, who were knocked off their feet as if he had thrown a boulder at them, and not a half-pound stick of wood. The men gasped and coughed, however, unable to even pull themselves off the ground without flinching in pain.

Oscar then turned toward the two women in the corner.

Pam screamed as he leapt at them, and she instinctively reached for Jim's hand, lying feet from her, wrenching the hammer from his fingers. Giving an odd bellow through her clenched teeth, Pam whirled the weapon around toward Oscar's head, knocking him in the jaw, which had been clamped firmly around Kelly's calf.

"NO!"

Oscar was flung away, his jaw distorted and bloody. He was splayed on the ground, writhing in pain and anger.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Pam chucked the hammer as hard as she could toward Oscar, hearing a loud _thunk_, a growl, and then silence. Pam's eyes snapped open, and as she chanced one last glance at the, once-again, unconscious form of Oscar Martinez, she then turned all her attention to Kelly.

She was in a right state. Lip trembling, she was crying silently and clutching her leg in a vice-like grip. She rocked back and forth, her knees bent under her chin, and adamantly shook her head every time Pam attempted to look at her wound.

"No, Pam. Please... just – just check on them..." she whispered, nodding toward the men, who were still stirring painfully on the floor.

Reluctantly, Pam moved away from her and helped Jim up to his feet. He looked in a terrible amount of pain, but moved to help Dwight and Creed up too. It took a few minutes for them all to recover from Oscar's attack, and when they were finally fit to walk, Kelly's warning symptoms began to set in.

"Ow," she whimpered, her hands moving from her calf to her stomach, her eyes squeezed shut.

Pam gasped when she noticed Kelly's exposed leg. She saw the row of bloody teeth-marks dug savagely into her skin, but she saw something she didn't notice before on Michael's bite – the punctures were surrounded by something black and moist, as if her skin was flayed off and being healed over by infected scabs. The mass was growing before Pam's very eyes; and she merely watched, horrified.

"Kelly." Pam breathed, moving toward her friend. But she was held back by a pair of hands seizing her elbows.

"Pam, we have to move." Jim's urgent voice whispered in her ear, but Pam didn't listen. Tears poured down her cheeks as he struggled against him, needing to save Kelly from her inevitable fate.

"Go, Pam!" Kelly insisted from below, clutching her stomach and wincing as she spoke. The black infection on her calf spread to her ankle.

With a loud sob, Pam wrenched away from Jim's grasp and dropped to her knees in front of the woman on the ground. She wanted to do something: to stop whatever was happening to her friend. But she couldn't, and so she sobbed harder...

"Pam, I'll be fine! Go, just go!" Kelly insisted, giving a small cry of pain as she held onto her stomach.

Pam didn't move, but a pair of arms she knew well pulled her off the ground. They yanked her away, toward the doorway, and to a safe place. But Pam didn't care about that now: all she could do was cry, watching as her last glimpse of Kelly turned a corner and vanished. The arms eventually let go of her, and Pam moved on her own, but she couldn't help but feel that it was Kelly's embrace, when she had found them before, that had let her go, making her feel utterly cold and alone.

* * *

**So sorry for the delay everybody. I just came back from a camping trip, and I intended to finish this chapter before I left. But of course I was suffering from a nasty case of the affliction known as writer's block then, so... :( **

**Anyway, if you liked the chapter, review! I'd really appreciate some feedback:)**


	7. The Encounter

"Okay, you three: the map says there's another fire escape in W.B. Jone's company, but we have to move quickly. Jim, Creed – you two move up front. _Don't _put down your weapons. Pam and I will keep close to you, in case there's an attack from behind. Creed and I will cover the right, Jim and Pam, left. Pam, come ON! There's no time to lose, we have to hurry!"

Pam felt Dwight's hand clasp her upper arm tightly and drag her roughly down unfamiliar passageways. Through the darkness, she could just make out the tall forms of Creed and Jim running ahead, their respective weapons held over their shoulders, ready to protect if there was an attack. Pam allowed herself to be yanked down corridor after corridor, barely even making an attempt to escape from Dwight's grip.

Her future now seemed so bleak; so meaningless. What was the point of running like hell toward their second destination if they were all doomed to the same fate as so many of their friends already were? Pam didn't feel the same urgency the others felt as they scrambled from darkened hallway to darkened hallway, and was reduced to merely being pulled limply along with the others, not caring whether she lived or died.

Suddenly, Dwight yanked her arm so hard that she quite literally crashed to the floor with a nasty thud. Such was her depressed blank state that she didn't even flinch as her knees impacted hard with the ground.

She could hear voices arguing above her.

"Leave her _alone_! I said you could help her along, I didn't say you should tear her arm off...!"

"But she needs to MOVE! One of them could appear at any moment."

"We're in the stairwell: we'll be fine for a few minutes. Here..."

Pam felt Jim pull her roughly to her feet. When he let her go, Pam had to quickly press herself against a nearby wall so her legs wouldn't buckle and sink to the floor.

"Creed, Dwight: can you keep watch for a minute?"

"But- -"

"_Please_, Dwight. Just one minute. I need to talk to her alone."

"Jim, we don't have_ time_!" Dwight sounded thoroughly frustrated. Pam could see through the darkness Jim and Dwight were practically nose-to-nose, glaring at each other. Creed was hanging behind them both and glancing from Jim to Dwight, his eyes wide.

"You can stop dragging her around: she'll move on her own, and we'll be able to get to the fire escape twice as quickly. But first just give us _one minute_- -" Jim held up one finger in front of Dwight, his eyes shooting daggers at him, "- -and then we'll get moving again. I swear."

Dwight glared at him for one more second, looking as if he wanted to argue more, before giving an angry grunt through his teeth. He then suddenly jerked forward and yanked the hammer out of Jim's hand, which hung limply by his side. Jim didn't flinch – he merely glared as Dwight turned swiftly around and headed down the staircase, Jim's weapon held firmly in his fist. Creed quickly moved in the opposite direction with his broom at the ready; up the stairs, turning a corner, and out of sight.

Jim didn't waste a moment: he marched right up to Pam and gripped her firmly by the arm, holding her up, for she gave every indication of wanting to sink back to the floor and never move again.

"Dammit, Pam. Pull it together!" Jim hissed, his frustration evident.

Tears began to fill Pam's eyes, though she didn't say anything. She stared blankly at the opposite wall.

"Pam!" Jim gave her shoulders a little shake. "Answer me!"

Pam still was silent.

"Goddammit, Pam, if I weren't in love with you I'd slap you across the face right now."

Pam gave an odd, strangled laugh, although it might have been a sob. The tears began streaming down her face.

"Listen to me- -" Jim gripped her face with both of his hands and forced her to look straight at him. Her lip quivered as she rapidly blinked tears out of her eyes. Jim continued, looking firmly into her eyes:

"We have to move: there's no question about it. If we hesitate, even for a second, we will die." Jim paused, letting the gravity of his words sink in, "Do you understand me, Pam? _We. Will. Die._"

Pam suddenly began to sob – terrible, gut-wrenching, agonizing sobs that accurately expressed all her frustration and fear. Jim didn't hesitate: he gathered her up in his arms, letting her cry her heart's content while shushing her soothingly. Giving large, heaving hiccups, Pam managed to sputter something out, muffled by her face being buried in the fabric of Jim's sweater:

"W-What's the p-point?" she cried, her eyes burning as the flow of tears continued to gush down her cheeks. "All of our f-friends are m-monsters! And that g-guard still locked us in h-here, even th-though he knew we were s-sane! They d-don't care what happens t-to us; they d-don't care whether w-we end up like K-Kelly..." Pam gave a another loud cry, her devastation putting her beyond words.

"Pam. Please – stop crying." Jim said firmly, almost reluctantly pushing her away from him so she would look up at him again. Her eyes were red and puffy, and still streaming with tears, but her hiccups quieted a considerable amount, her breathing still shallow and uneven.

He went on: "Pam, I know, okay? I know that this is an impossible situation and that it's not even a definite that we will make it out of here alive and well, but _please_ Pam, _please –_ we all have to just keep it together right now."

Pam looked at Jim, his face swimming before her due to the amount of still unshed tears in her eyes. She saw the firm, yet slightly desperate, way his eyes were set, and felt instantly sobered. Giving a hearty sniff, Pam quickly glanced down and wiped her eyes and nose clean, as if suddenly embarrassed by her little tantrum.

"I'm s-sorry." Pam hiccuped quietly, gulping. "I'm sorry..."

Before Jim could respond, however, there was a great BANG, and Dwight suddenly burst into the room, the door slamming open and a look of annoyance on his face as he glared at the two. Creed, hearing the commotion below him, appeared on the landing above, pale-faced. Pam knew that their time was up.

"Let's go." Jim said before Dwight could. Stepping away from Pam, he strode up to Dwight and unceremoniously yanked the hammer out of his hand, like Dwight himself did to him before. Throwing Dwight a dirty look over his shoulder, Jim strode toward the open doorway, disappearing through it.

Dwight only hesitated a moment before stalking out after him, an ugly look on his face, and a second later, Creed clambered down both flights of stairs to follow.

Pam was left alone on the landing. Taking a few deep breaths, she managed to push herself up to stand without supporting herself against the wall. After gulping one last time, she wiped away her final tear, squared her shoulders, and took off to follow after the last three sane people left in the building.

~/~

"Shh!"

They were barely a dozen hurried steps out of the stairwell when Dwight was suddenly stopping dead in his tracks, shushing everybody. They all stumbled off-balance in their haste to freeze in their tracks.

Something, or someone, was making loud crashing sounds a few hallways over.

Jim hissed angrily at Dwight through clenched teeth. "Dwight, what the _hell_ are you doing? We should keep going...!"

Dwight turned sharply toward Jim, his eyes wild. "We all have weapons! If he comes over here, I think we'll be able to take him..."

"The whole point of running to the next exit is so we could _avoid_ instances like this!" Jim whispered fiercely, his eyes widening with incredulity. "You said it yourself...!"

"...I'm just saying that I would feel much better about all this if I knew that there were fewer threats out there!"

"Were you even _here_ when we knocked out Ryan, or Michael, or Oscar for the third time? Don't you understand that broken bones and cuts and blood don't hurt these mutants like they hurt us? It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than a hammer and a broom handle to take them down!"

Jim and Dwight continued to argue angrily in whispers, their faces inches apart once again. Pam and Creed hovered awkwardly behind them, watching the two men. Personally, Pam agreed wholeheartedly with Jim: she had no desire whatsoever to meet another one of those monsters again. Yes, she would feel very relieved if the threat of attack was gone, but she honestly would much rather see an open doorway out of this God-forsaken business park.

"This is ridiculous...!" Pam heard Jim suddenly burst out, and she was shocked to see him stalking off ahead of them, alone, his hammer clenched in his hand. For a wild moment, Pam assumed he was going to hunt down one of the monsters by himself, but seeing him turn in the direction opposite the sounds of crashes, she realized he was going to find his way out without them...

"Jim! Wait!" Pam suddenly yelled, pushing past Creed and Dwight, running up toward him. She wanted to find the way out too; she already made up her mind. Wherever Jim went, she would go too.

But before he could even turn around, the sound of crashes and shrieks suddenly became alarmingly close. And, next second, Ryan burst through a doorway, feet away from where Jim was standing. Pam instinctively screamed, backing away toward a nearby wall. Her hip bumped into something hard, and she realized she had accidentally stumbled over a small bureau.

"NO!"

Jim swung his hammer around, aiming at Ryan, but the monster merely seized Jim by his airborne wrist. Almost lazily, he began to bend it back, an evil grin on his face, causing Jim to shriek with pain...

"STOP IT!"

Dwight charged forward, mace bottle in hand. Ryan turned to face Dwight, throwing a writhing Jim aside, and glared at him with fierce, red eyes. Baring his teeth and shrieking, Ryan charged at Dwight as well, who was spraying his mace with all his might toward his opponent. Ryan, brushing off the spray of burning pepper as if it were nothing more than droplets of water, slammed into Dwight at high speed. Dwight flew backward several yards, crashing into Creed as he went. With a tremendous smash, the two landed on the floor, skidding down a good length of the hallway.

Ryan turned to face Pam, a mere ten feet away from him.

She couldn't move; she was frozen to the spot. She wanted to scream, but her vocal chords didn't seem to be working anymore. All she could do was stare at Ryan with wide, petrified eyes, pressing her back flat against the wall, her head tilted back in fear. She felt the bureau still digging painfully into her hip.

He merely stood there, breathing heavily in a loud, savage way, staring at her. She couldn't hear any other movement.

And even though she knew Pam was as close to death as she would ever want to be, a memory suddenly popped into her head; a random flashback to a moment she barely even recognized at the time...

_Pam was just sitting at her desk while trying to download songs onto her Prizm Durosport. Ryan had wandered up wordlessly to her counter, dropping a few file folders into the outbox. He peeked at what Pam was doing on her computer screen, and raised his eyebrows._

"_Are you on Limewire?"_

_Pam jumped – she hadn't noticed him approaching. She looked up at him and grinned slightly all the same._

"_Yeah, I'm trying to download some songs. Only problem is I have absolutely _no_ idea what to get..."_

"_What bands do you like?"_

_Pam bit her lip sheepishly. She didn't answer._

"_You don't have a favorite band?" Ryan exclaimed, and Pam couldn't help but giggle at the incredulous look on his face. She shook her head, smiling up at him._

"_Well, I definitely recommend Maroon 5," Ryan began eagerly, his blue eyes glittering brightly at talking about his obvious favorite subject. "And The Offspring too, if you don't mind some hard metal. Oh, and you would probably want some classics, like Queen, or Meatloaf. And you absolutely must have The Beatles in your repertoire: it's practically ungodly if you don't..."_

_Pam watched him speak, her eyebrows raised with surprise. She had never known the temp to be so chatty._

"_... Jason Mraz is pretty good too, if you like beachy melodies and such. And The Who is pretty awesome when it comes to- -" Ryan suddenly broke off, realizing that he was rattling on in a very Kelly-like way. He quieted, blushing, and Pam couldn't help but giggle once again._

_I'll take... many of those into consideration." Pam smiled at him again. Ryan grinned sheepishly back._

"_Right." he nodded. Still slightly red in the face, he turned around and walked back to his desk. Pam, still smiling to herself, turned back to her computer and typed 'Maroon 5' into the search box, clicking 'Enter'..._

That moment, though it occurred so long ago, was as clear and vivid to Pam as if she were there once again. Sweet, yet painfully nostalgic, memories of their office temp began flooding her brain, and tears began filling Pam's eyes. At that moment, she would have given absolutely anything to have that ambitious, slightly haughty, but overall good-natured guy, back.

Pam's eyes flew open, and the temp's sheepish and innocent face instantly vanished from her mind, replaced by the evil, contorted, manical face of the Ryan Howard that stood before her right now.

"Ryan." Pam whispered urgently, finding her voice. He was still rooted in the spot, which Pam took to mean that just maybe he was listening to what she was saying.

Pam gulped, and then spoke again, more confidently and slightly above a whisper. "Please. I know you're in there, Ryan. I know you're still a good guy. I know you're still the same person who wants nothing more than to own his own company. To someday leave Scranton and make something of himself. Please..." Pam pleaded with him once again, and his head tilted slightly, as if considering what she was saying. "Please. I know you, Ryan. I know you would never really hurt us like this."

There seemed to be only a split second that passed before everything happened: a mere moment where Pam thought Ryan was actually going to stop this madness and spare her life. But then, next second, he shrieked his unearthly call, and lunged at her, his teeth bared. Pam screamed, unable to back away, but instinctively turned her cheek to him, squeezing her eyes shut. She heard a loud THUNK, and Ryan's body slammed into hers. The force of his weight caused the two to fall sideways and crash into the bureau at high speed, and Pam heard a tremendous crunch as the wood of the cabinet splintered beneath her, digging painfully into her flesh.

Blinking and gasping for air, Pam realized that Ryan wasn't moving above her, and she glanced around, flustered. She noticed Jim's feet from her position on the ground, hurriedly dropping his blood-stained hammer and collapsing to his knees beside her. Apparently, he had managed to knock out Ryan the moment he launched at her.

"Pam." Jim moaned, hurriedly pulling an unconscious Ryan off her and pushing broken pieces of wood away so as to reach her. "Pam, are you all right?"

Pam groaned in pain, pushing herself up on her elbows. With Jim's help, she managed to pull herself up on her feet, wincing in pain. Her right arm hurt worst of all...

"Are you all right?" Jim repeated, his eyes skating all over Pam, checking for any sort of bruise or scratch.

"More or less." Pam grimaced painfully. She glanced down at her arm, clenching her teeth.

"Ow..."

She held out her arm and rotated it slightly so she could get a good look at the injury on her forearm.

She froze.

Four, bloody puncture marks. All in a row.

Time itself seemed to stop. Pam's heart skipped a beat, and suddenly sped up to an alarming rate as she and Jim stared at her arm in disbelief.

No. It couldn't be...

Instinctively, it seemed, Pam spun around and began to run.

She didn't get far, for Jim was much faster than she was, and was determined to catch her.

"Pam!" Jim caught up, holding her back by her uninfected arm. He spun her around, so she was looking at him. She saw that his face was sickly pale. "What are you doing?"

Pam's lips were trembling. Her whole body was shivery too, as if she had a terrible bout of the flu. When she spoke, she was scared of how shaky her voice was. "Jim, I'm infected! I have to get away from you!"

"No!" Jim shouted, gripping all the more tightly onto her arm. Pam was shocked to see tears in his eyes. She gaped at him.

"Jim..." she whispered.

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" Jim suddenly burst out, causing Pam to jump. He finally let go of her arm, but turned away and gripped his face with his hands, trying to hide his anguish.

Pam stayed rooted in the spot, staring at him.

Jim's voice sounded muffled as he moaned into his hands: "...my fault... all my fault..."

"No." Pam shook her head, her own eyes now filling with tears. She walked up to Jim and turned him to face her. She stood close to him as she gently, yet firmly, pried his hands away from his face.

He was the picture of devastation: his eyes were wet, his cheeks damp with tears. His face was frighteningly pale, and he was shaking, looking lost and confused as his gaze searched Pam's face when she looked back at him. He was searching for answers.

"Hey." Pam breathed, gulping down her own horrible sadness as she took Jim's face lightly with her hands. She looked directly into his eyes when she spoke. "It's going to be okay."

"Don't say that." Jim's searching eyes suddenly contracted, as if afraid to hear such comforting words. He was shaking beneath her hands. "Please, don't tell me that..."

"Jim." Pam interrupted, her lips trembling worse than ever. Tears started slipping down her cheeks. "I have to go."

Jim squeezed his eyes shut, looking down. Several tears escaped his lids, and he gasped out a restrained sob.

"You," Pam began speaking firmly, despite the fact that her fingers gripping his cheeks were trembling, "Dwight, and Creed will get to that fire escape, and you will get out safely, and you're going to – no, listen to me!" she insisted, for Jim began shaking his head, wanting her to stop.

"No. I – I can't do this, Pam..."

"Jim, please listen to me!"

Jim stopped talking and shaking his head almost at once. He looked directly at her again, his eyes still streaming.

Pam blinked out her final tear, and managed a small smile as she lifted one hand and ran her fingers lightly through his hair, brushing it away from his eyes. She then set her hand back lightly to where it was before.

"Don't lose your sanity here, Jim," she breathed, looking at him directly. She knew that this was important for him to hear. "It's the most precious thing you have."

She pulled his head down to her mouth and pressed her lips against his forehead – on some level in her mind, she knew that kissing him on the lips would transfer the same infection to him as she already had. So all she could do to say goodbye was a quick kiss on the forehead and a hurried grasp of his hand. Her eyes never left his until she quickly turned around and hurried down the hallway, turning a corner, and disappearing.


	8. The Second Way Out

**A/N: Hey gang! Thanks for all the amazing reviews, they really make me smile. And I would also like to thank those in particular who reviewed last chapter. Honestly, I've been freaking out about that particular chapter for the last month or so, and I was extremely nervous to see how it had turned out. But you all seemed to be as entertained by last chapter as much as any other, for which I am very grateful for:)**

**Anyway, I'll get on with the story now...**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Seriously, my room is, like, a black hole or something...**

* * *

"C'mon"

Dwight seemed to have gotten to his feet and approached Jim quietly from behind, setting a tentative hand on his shoulder. Jim didn't move, turn around, or even acknowledge Dwight's existence. All he could do was stand numbly in place, staring blankly at where his best friend had just turned a corner and fled to save herself from the others. He was barely aware of the way his mind began to spin, how Creed began mumbling something to Dwight in a low, uncertain voice; how tears still flowed freely down his face...

"Jim," Dwight began, an odd gentle undertone to his voice. "We have to keep moving."

Jim, however, didn't move. He was hardly aware that Creed and Dwight were there, watching him. But the tiny part of him that did register what Dwight was saying immediately protested.

No, a small voice inside of him said defiantly. No, I can't leave. I won't.

"We can't stay here." Creed pointed out quietly.

Yes, we can. Where else are we going to go?

"C'mon." Dwight whispered again.

Did you even see what happened to Pam? Do you even care?

His silent protests were ignored, however. Creed and Dwight were both turning Jim around, hands on either one of his shoulders, and steering him down the dark hallway in silence.

Jim felt like a lost child. He didn't recognize any of his surroundings at all; the hallways, the walls, even his two companions. They all seemed like something completely separate from himself. He had no control over his feet, which seemed to just be moving on their own accord. They followed Dwight and Creed's lead as the two men pulled Jim along, toward, no doubt, their second way out.

"Which way now?" Creed's voice sounded close to Jim's ear.

"Let's see..." Dwight took his hand off Jim's shoulder and reached in his pocket for the blueprint. He examined it closely, the flashlight's weak beam shining dimly in the gloom.

"This way." Dwight pointed to their right, and the three proceeded down through a narrow passageway. Towards the end of the hallway was a handsome, mahogany door with 'W.B. Jones – Heating and Air Conditioning' embossed on the front. Dwight turned the knob, and the door thankfully swung open. The three continued through the office, Jim needing constant encouragement to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Each step felt like more work than the last.

"Stop."

Dwight stopped dead in his tracks, followed obediently by Creed and Jim. Dwight pointed to a window at the end of a side hallway. It looked exactly the same as it's counterpart they first saw in Vance Refrigeration, with only one difference...

Thick, iron bars ran horizontally across it from the outside; clear, tinted tarp secured firmly over the glass.

"No..." Creed whispered, and in a flash, he and Dwight abandoned Jim and sprinted up toward the exit, hoping against hope that what they were seeing wasn't true. They skidded to a halt before it, tugging hopelessly on the bar that should have accessed the opening. But it remained firmly in place.

Creed turned and punched the wall angrily with his fist. "What the hell do we do now?"

Dwight was starting to answer, but was interrupted by a sudden buzzing noise. Creed gave a violent jump upon hearing it, and Jim's heart began to race. For a moment, his trance-like state couldn't comprehend why he had suddenly felt so scared.

Dwight, however, didn't looked unnerved by the mysterious buzzing. On the contrary, he looked rather relieved as he quickly reached into his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone, which was glowing brightly in the gloom and buzzing earnestly in his hand.

Jim stared at it, beginning to walk slowly up to the two other men. He had almost completely forgotten about such normal things as cell phones.

Dwight flipped it open and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"

He listened for a second, silent; his eyes darting back and forth, until he suddenly smiled. He quickly brought the phone down and held it out, pressing 'speaker'. Angela's voice immediately rang out from the other end:

"- - can't believe you're all right! Oh, I've just been so worried! It was an absolute pain in order to get past all of the cops and the news reporters to get to my car and my phone, and by then I found out that you hadn't found your way out yet! And, oh, I'm so sorry Dwight! I thought Ryan or someone had gotten you too! I was scared to call. I was afraid you were dead, or worse...!"

"Angela," Dwight spoke over her, his voice cracking with immense relief. "I'm fine, really. We're fine..."

I know," Angela said, her rambling coming to a stop. The sound of wind blowing on the speaker made Jim sure Angela was panting. It sounded like she was actually smiling. "I'm just happy to hear your voice again."

Dwight smiled, and Jim's heart clenched. About a thousand emotions were rushing through Jim's slightly more responsive brain: Shock, relief, happiness, surprise, sadness, and jealousy pounded through his body, flooding through his veins. It made him feel slightly sick.

"Who's all with you?" Angela continued.

"Just me, Creed, and Jim." Dwight half-glanced up in Jim's direction when he said his name. He quickly looked back at the phone.

There was silence on the other end. Jim knew Angela was probably shocked to hear that there were so few of them left.

"What's going on out there?" Dwight continued, trying to fill the nasty silence.

"Well... um... " she hesitated, all traces of her happiness gone now. She finally blurted out: "Jan's dead."

Jim felt an odd, swooping sort of dizziness rush over him upon having to hear this. He caught Creed's eye, who looked just as sick as he felt. Jan...

It felt so impossible. Their boss's boss, who seemed so invincible, so immune to anything that threatened her authoritative position, was gone...

"Are you sure?" Dwight asked shakily. Apparently, he didn't believe it either.

"Yes." Angela said breathlessly. "Everyone's talking about it. The doctors had her surrounded for the last few hours or so until they took her away in a body bag. From what I could gather, she was strangled, and then... then thrown about fifty feet... into a lampost..." Angela's voice faded into a whisper.

"Do they know if... if it was...?" Dwight stammered out. Angela understood, however.

"They're not sure if it's connected with what's going on inside, although it seems unlikely that Jan died by accident." Angela said sadly.

There was a small silence, broken only by the faint voices and police sirens coming from the background of Angela's side.

"So what's going on out there?" Dwight asked, his eyebrows knit in concentration.

"Well, there's a lot of people here, mostly news reporters and police officers, but some of these people look like the CIA. Those of us who got out were taken to some huge, CDC truck for questioning. I told them that you guys were still inside, but they didn't believe me. I think they think I'm crazy." Angela sneered slightly at this ridiculous prospect. "Actually, I'm sort of surprised we weren't taken away to a facility yet, I would think- -"

"Angela." Jim interrupted suddenly, snatching the phone from Dwight's hand and holding it up to his mouth. This was the first time he had spoken since Pam had left. His eyes were alight with malice, his face was flushed, while a sudden, angry thought struck him like a volt of electricity...

"Hey!" Dwight snapped, trying to rip the phone back from Jim's grasp. Jim ignored him.

"Angela, find Roy and put him on the phone." Jim ordered fiercely. Dwight froze, staring at him.

"Jim? Is that you?" Angela asked, surprised.

"Angela: get Roy on the phone!" Jim insisted.

Angela sounded a little nervous. "Why?"

"Jim!" Dwight hissed, suddenly understanding what he was doing. "Getting revenge on Roy will not bring Pam back!"

A sickening feeling clenched Jim's stomach, but he ignored both it and Dwight.

"Angela, please!" Jim turned his back to the two men, for Dwight kept trying to snatch back his phone.

"I'm sorry Jim, but- -" But Angela's answer was cut off by Dwight's angry outburst:

"Jim, what good could this possibly serve?" He shoved Jim angrily around by the shoulder, so he was facing him again. Jim's eyes flashed when they met Dwight's, his anger no longer kept at bay...

"HE KILLED HER!" he roared, brandishing the phone in his fury, nearly knocking Creed in the nose. "ROY KILLED HER! IT'S HIS FAULT SHE'S GONE! I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL THAT BASTARD FOR WHAT HE DID TO HER!"

Dwight backed away from him, abashed. Creed could only stare nervously at Jim. Jim, gritting his teeth, brought the phone back up to his mouth, breathing heavily.

"Angela – put Roy on the phone." Jim spoke every syllable intensely.

Angela spoke feebly, almost pityingly. "I'm really sorry Jim, but I don't see him anywhere at the moment... But maybe I could look- -"

Her answer was cut off, however, when Jim, in a wave of fury, didn't just hang up the phone, but threw it as hard as he could. The device soared through the darkness and smashed against something, somewhere in the distance, tumbling to the floor with several sharp clacks. The cell phone was obviously broken to pieces.

A horrible silence spun rapidly out of control for many uncomfortable seconds while Jim quickly turned away from the other two, sobbing and angrily gripping his hair. Dwight looked torn between fury and pity, while Creed seemed to only be able to focus on the ground in front of him, listening to Jim crying quietly beside him.

Dwight swallowed nervously, then walked up to Jim's hunched, shaking shoulders. He set his hand on one gently, but Jim didn't seem to notice. They just stood there for a minute, until Dwight finally spoke up.

"I know it's difficult," He began quietly, and Jim's shoulders stopped shaking. "And I know you loved her very much. But you shouldn't torture yourself like that."

Jim's breathing evened out slightly, and he slowly brought his hands down, letting them hang limply by his sides.

"Our focus should be on getting out of here alive. We shouldn't dwell on what we can do nothing about." Dwight continued, taking his hand off Jim's shoulder. Jim, taking a deep shuddering breath, finally straightened up and turned toward the other men.

He gulped. "You... you don't understand..." Jim took another deep, steadying breath. "... what it's like for me..." His throat felt constricted, but he continued, looking at Dwight. "You managed to save Angela, when I couldn't even... I can't..." Tears blurred his vision once again, and he shook his head, looking away.

"It wasn't your fault Pam got bitten, Jim." Dwight said firmly, and Jim looked up at him again. "You couldn't help it, and neither could I, or Creed. It just happened, and as terrible as that was, we can't do anything about it. All we can do now is keep moving."

Jim and Dwight just looked at each other for a second before Jim finally nodded resignedly. "Okay."

~/~

Pam was running blindly through the dark hallways of the Local Scranton Business Park. Panting and crying at the same time, she constantly tripped over her own feet toward her mad dash for safety. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to get there soon...

_How long has it been?_

Pam wished desperately that she had said a shorter goodbye to Jim – it would have given them both more time to get away. Every second counted in this place. Pam burst through a doorway, and found herself in the hallway with the elevators. Getting a sudden idea, she quickly pivoted to her left and sprinted down the hallway toward the warehouse, her eyes still blurred with tears and inevitable sobs still held tightly inside.

_How long will it be?_

She flung herself through the already open doorway and flew down the steps to the dark, yet horribly familiar, warehouse. When she reached the ground, she turned left again and ran toward the small office cubicle that at one time had been Darryl's.

Her eyes blurring with tears, Pam pulled herself up through the window (the door was still barricaded), and jumped to the ground. She stumbled through the debris packed in the small area, and suddenly sank, weak-kneed, in the corner where Jim and her had their first kiss...

Pam couldn't hold it in anymore - she immediately buried her face in her arms and began to sob.

_Will it hurt?_

Pam had never been so frightened in her entire life: knowing death was right over her shoulder, ready to take her away in a matter of minutes, possibly seconds, was was a horrible prospect. Waiting for a telltale stabbing pain in her gut, or the burning feeling of blood creeping up from her stomach, was enough to send Pam into hysterics. Her skin was flushed and sweaty, her limbs were shaking while wave after wave of panic and terror crashed over her.

She didn't want to die. She wasn't ready.

_I never even told him yet._

Pam scolded herself for thinking about Jim. She couldn't handle that right now, even though her mind kept straying to him. Through her sorrow, she couldn't help but find it odd that, though she was staring death in the face, the only regret she felt was that she never told Jim that she loved him too...

_I can't die without him knowing._

He did know, Pam argued with herself. He _does_ know...

_Are you sure about that?_

"YES!" Pam actually shouted aloud, an unnatural bout of indignation flooding her body. She pulled her face away from her arms, shifting her feet as she did so.

Her toe hit something hard. Squinting in the dark, Pam tried to see what she hit...

A first-aid kit.

Pam remembered, as though from a past life, when she and Jim were raiding this office and she had found that first aid kit. She had completely forgotten about it. In all of the confusion of nearly dying, she had left it on the ground, it's contents sprawled all around.

Like cogs working together, something in Pam's clouded and terrified mind clicked.

Scrambling unsteadily to her knees, Pam crawled toward the small white and red box a few feet away. Gazing inside, she saw exactly what she wanted: a packet of gauze strips and a small, brown bottle of iodine.

_If this doesn't work, nothing will._

Pam gripped the bottle in her hand, unscrewing it shakily. Holding out her injured arm, she poured a liberal amount of the amber liquid on her wound, which was still bleeding freely. The solution stung, and Pam clenched her teeth.

When she was done cleaning it, she grabbed the small packet of gauze and ripped it open, grabbing a few pieces and dabbing it roughly on her arm. Brown and red bled together on the strips of material as she wiped away as much of the infection as possible.

When she was finished, a fresh, white strip of gauze wrapped firmly around her arm, Pam quickly crawled back to her corner, slumping back down. This time she did not cry. Instead, she had her eyes closed tight as she waited; waited to see if this chance, however slim it might be, would turn in her favor. She whispered continually under her breath, praying to someone she hoped was listening...

Then, after what felt like a lifetime, she stopped whispering. Taking a deep breath, she finally opened her eyes...

* * *

**So is Pam going to be all right? Leave your theories for me by clicking the review button below:)**

**Thanks!**

**Love,**

**StrawPohj**


	9. The Third Way Out

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, guys:) critical or not, I will always and forever appreciate them.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains a rather brutal battle scene. If you don't like that stuff, please don't feel obligated to read it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Office or it's affiliates.

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**

Dwight, Creed and Jim were once again running swiftly down the darkened hallways.

"Where to now?" Creed asked, striding along quickly beside Dwight. "Another fire escape?"

"No, not a fire escape..." Dwight said hurriedly, with the bottle of mace still gripped firmly in his fist.

"Where's the last way out then?" Jim panted, trying to keep up.

"The roof." Dwight said simply, halting to a sudden stop and turning left down another corridor. Creed and Jim glanced at each other before following him.

Down a hallway, then down another, through a few doorways, turn left, then up a flight of stairs. Jim was growing dizzy, wondering vaguely how Dwight was so sure where he was going, for the darkness around them was thickening with every step they took.

As he was running beside the two men, Jim personally decided that he wouldn't let his sadness about Pam affect him until he actually got out of this place. As irrational as that sounded, it was the only thing that comforted him: if he got out of here, he would feel terrible and miserable, but at least safely so. If he went mad in here while trying to escape, well... at least the pain of losing the girl he loved would be gone if he was a monster.

He would forget, which, Jim realized ironically, sounded rather appealing right now.

"Up here." Dwight hissed, and he burst through another doorway.

Creed and Jim followed, but all three of them suddenly stopped. They actually recognized this hallway: it was on the way to the hatch leading to the roof from their office. Their potential freedom was so close. But there was only one problem...

Kelly was standing at the other end of the hallway, blocking their passage to the roof. She spotted them with her horrible red eyes, and immediately shrieked, which sounded screechier and more terrible than any of the men who had become infected. She bared her teeth, and charged toward them at once.

Jim and Dwight were prepared: Jim raised his hammer, ready for attack; Dwight was gripping his bottle of mace even harder now, as if it were a grenade. Both men advanced at her...

"NO!" Creed suddenly appeared, and shoved the two men into the wall. Dwight and Jim, shocked, stumbled aside as they watched the dark outline of Creed rush toward Kelly, his broom handle gripped in his hands. There was a split second, where Jim and Dwight tried to regain their footing, when all of a sudden...

CRUNCH!

The sound of bodies smashing together, and Kelly's shriek of pain and rage, filled their ears. Both men watched, shocked, as Creed was practically wrestling with the monster Kelly. She was pressed against the wall a few feet away, Creed's broom held sideways by both hands, shoved to her neck. Kelly herself was thrashing around furiously, her long nails trying to grasp either the broom or Creed's flesh.

"GO!" Creed gasped to the other two through gritted teeth. He was holding Kelly off for as long as he possibly could so the other two could escape. He was sacrificing himself for them.

Dwight hesitated for a second.

"C'mon!" Jim seized a handful of Dwight's shirt and yanked him down the hallway. They passed the two struggling figures, and Dwight seemed to snap out of it, pulling himself out of Jim's grasp and running by himself now. As the two darted past Creed and turned into the next hallway, they heard the horrible snap of the broom breaking, and a scream of pain issuing from Creed.

Dwight stumbled slightly as he halted to a stop, his eyes wide. Jim stopped too, looking around.

"I think he's been bitten." Dwight whispered urgently.

Jim grit his teeth, reaching over and grabbing Dwight's arm. "There's nothing we can do!" and Jim yanked Dwight down the hallway, ignoring any other protests from him.

They had barely gone a dozen steps when another shriek sounded up ahead. This time, it issued from Michael, standing in a doorway, looking madder and more terrible than ever.

Jim gripped his hammer as if it were his lifeline. He spoke to Dwight, who was now standing slightly behind him: "Keep moving toward the hatch, no matter what. _Don't_ stop for anything. If you see something move, attack it. You understand me?"

"Yes." came Dwight strangled reply.

Michael suddenly shrieked, then lunged forward.

The battle was on. Jim swung, thrashed, jabbed, and stabbed his hammer as hard as he could toward the monster, just barely keeping him away. Jim heard Dwight fighting beside him, and Jim could feel the slight sting of pepper spray in his eyes. Blinking the burning feeling away, he still fought. Slowly and steadily, Jim and Dwight managed to move toward the exit...

Two shrieks from behind them meant Kelly and Creed were now close by.

"Dammit!" Dwight bellowed through his teeth, whipping his head around to look behind him. Jim took this moment to smash his hammer against Michael's hand. Michael, howling with pain, stumbled aside. Now was their chance...

"C'mon!" Jim grabbed Dwight's arm, pulling him past the writhing form of Michael. Jim, glancing over his shoulder, got a glimpse of Creed's and Kelly's blood-red eyes glaring at them, their blackened teeth bared.

Jim turned forward, and dragged Dwight away and around a corner.

The hatch to the roof was in sight, only about fifteen feet away. But they had other problems: Oscar and Ryan were smashing their way across the threshold, toward the two. Behind them, they could hear Kelly, Creed, and Michael stumbling their way toward them. Earsplitting shrieks surrounded them on every side.

They were trapped.

"I got Oscar and Ryan!" Jim shouted to Dwight over the angry cries of the monsters. "You got the rest!"

Dwight didn't reply, but immediately leapt over toward Creed, Kelly, and Michael, brandishing his bottle of mace. Jim quickly turned and began attacking the other two.

SMACK!

Jim swung his hammer wildly through the air, and it collided with Ryan's ear. He grasped the side of his head, stumbling in pain, and shrieked loudly. Jim immediately turned to battle with Oscar, who slammed into him before Jim could even raise his weapon again.

"No!"

Jim felt Oscar be pushed brutally away, and he noticed Dwight colliding with him at full speed. Oscar slammed to the ground with a loud shriek.

Dwight quickly turned to Jim, looking slightly panicked. "Are you all right? Did he bite you?"

"I'm okay." Jim glanced down at his arms and legs, seeing no cuts or punctures. "Look, Dwight- -"

"What?" Dwight asked, but was quickly distracted by Kelly, who was running toward him and shrieking madly. Jim quickly leapt forward and slammed his hammer into Kelly's jaw before she could reach them. She got knocked to the floor, writhing and screaming in pain.

Panting, Jim turned to Dwight. "- -I think you should get to the hatch right now. I'll hold these guys off..."

"Are you _crazy_?" Dwight exclaimed, as Michael blundered toward them angrily. He lunged, and Dwight immediately jumped aside. Jim quickly ducked down before Michael could manage to sink his teeth into his flesh, and Jim hastily swung the hammer around:

THUNK!

The hammer smashed into the side of Michael's knee. He howled with pain as he fell to the floor, red eyes rolling madly.

"Dwight: _get out of here!_" Jim bellowed through his teeth, leaping back to his feet.

"NO!" Dwight insisted.

Another shriek behind them indicated Oscar was back on his feet. The two whipped around, their weapons raised and ready.

"I'll be fine!" Jim insisted, as Oscar flung himself at the two. Jim swung the hammer as Dwight tried to spray him in the eyes, but only an odd hissing erupted from the nozzle. Jim's hammer smashed Oscar's nose, and Oscar wobbled dangerously on his feet, clutching his face. Taking advantage, Jim quickly ducked down and football-tackled him to the ground.

THUMP!

Oscar's head hit the ground with a sickening thud, and he went still.

Jim scrambled to his feet, and Dwight was twisting the nozzle of his mace vigorously, trying to fix it.

"I think your out."

All of a sudden, Ryan jumped to his feet, shrieking when he noticed the two men several feet away.

"Dwight, get out of here! I'll be fine, I'll hold them off! Just go!" Jim insisted once again, grabbing him and shoving him bodily toward the hatch, which was now right above them. Dwight hesitated.

"I can't just leave you down here!" he yelled desperately, as Ryan ran toward them. Jim turned around to fight, but Dwight quickly raised his now-useless bottle of mace and chucked it as hard as he could at the monster. The bottle's edge knocked Ryan in the temple, and he shrieked as blood poured from that point and down his face. Jim raised his hammer, but Ryan merely sunk to the floor, eyes rolling up into his head, clearly unconscious.

"Dwight, I'll be fine." Jim repeated, as they heard Creed and Kelly getting to their feet. "They're just going to keep on attacking. But I can hold them off while you can escape. I'm the only one with a weapon- -" Jim held up the bloody hammer. "I'm the only one who stands a chance."

"Give _me_ the hammer!" Dwight demanded as Kelly and Creed blundered their way toward the two. Jim, grunting in frustration, quickly whipped around and brandished the aforementioned weapon. Creed lunged at him, but Jim smashed him in the head with all his might. Creed fell over, blood blossoming over his graying hair. Kelly moved in, but Jim quickly swung his hammer so he hit her side. The sound of cracking bones meant that her rib had cracked.

"DWIGHT! GO!" Jim yelled over the shrieks of all the reviving monsters around them.

Dwight hesitated. "I can't just leave you here...!"

"You have to!" Jim quickly whipped his head around, noticing that Creed and Michael were getting unsteadily to their feet.

Dwight's expression grew angry: "If you stay down here, you're dead! I'm not going to let that happen!"

Dwight quickly moved forward, and tried to grab Jim's hammer from him, but Jim fought him. With a violent shove, he managed to throw Dwight off. But at that second, Michael lunged at him: with two swings, Jim managed to hit Michael in the shoulder and then in the jaw. Michael stumbled away, blood spewing from his mouth. Jim jabbed the hammer as hard as he could into Michael's stomach. Michael, howling in pain, quickly fell to the floor, eyes screwed up in agony. Creed suddenly pounced at Jim, who swiftly shoved him bodily into the wall. Panting, Jim took the hammer with both hands and shoved it against Creed's throat, pinning him in place.

"DWIGHT, GET OUT OF HERE!" Jim shouted, his teeth grit in anger and exhaustion. Creed shrieked with fury.

Dwight hesitated once again, his anger turning into fright. "No, Jim. I need to fight with you- -"

"NO, YOU DON'T!" Jim shoved the hammer even harder against Creed's windpipe, and the monster sputtered angrily. "YOU HAVE SOMEONE OUT THERE WAITING FOR YOU! YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR! YOU HAVE ANGELA! WHO DO I HAVE? NO ONE!"

Dwight hesitated a third time, watching Jim struggle.

"GO!" Jim shouted, turning to look at Dwight with burning determination.

Dwight quickly strode up to the ladder and climbed a rail or two, reaching up and grabbing the handle to the hatch. Dwight closed his eyes for a brief second before snapping them open again and pulling at the latch.

It loosened easily. Dwight pressed his hand against the portal's door, and pushed.

It swung open, and cool, wonderful night air hit him in the face. He could see the stars above, the moon shining brightly...

With one last scared glance below, Dwight quickly placed one hand on either side of the opening, and heaved himself up. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.

The hatch door then closed behind him with a snap.

~/~

Jim's muscles were shaking; his face was shining with sweat, and his breath was coming in short, painful bursts. He knew he couldn't hold off Creed for much longer, for the monster showed no sign of wanting to give up. Creed still scratched and snarled and fought with determined ferocity.

Jim could hear the other monsters getting up behind him, making their way toward him. For once, they weren't shrieking like their vocal chords were on fire: they were rather silent as they crept up to the two forms wrestling at the wall.

Then, with a sudden burst of power, Creed threw Jim off of him and shoved him away. Jim could just see outlines of the figures bearing down on him as he stumbled backward. The darkness seemed to overcome him as they continued to close in on him...

_I love you Pam_

And with that, Jim's body slammed into the opposite wall. His head flopped helplessly back and hit the wall a split second later with a sickening thud.

He heard a scream, his eyes slid upward, and then he knew no more.

~/~

They would have devoured him on the spot. Seeing him unconscious would have meant the monsters were going to have a feast: biting him, piercing his flesh, clawing at him, perhaps even enjoying an indulgence or two by ravaging his fingers and toes. But that never happened, because a piercing scream of fear and alarm interrupted their feast. They all turned around to face the source of the noise.

Pam Beesly was staring at what was going on with wide eyes. The white gauze bandaging her arm seemed to glow in the darkness as the tape dispenser she had left in Darryl's office hours ago before was clutched tightly in her hand.

A chorus of shrieks answered her back. Kelly and Oscar both leapt at her immediately.

Pam was ready for them: swinging her arm around wildly, she managed to knock Oscar in the temple and graze Kelly's cheek with the razor end of the dispenser. Both stumbled away angrily, blood spurting out over their ripped and torn clothes.

The others shrieked angrily and leapt at Pam, eager to devour her instead.

Pam didn't know what came over her, but she fought savagely. Her hurt arm, which was throbbing like crazy a few minutes ago, went oddly numb as she fought off the monsters. The happiness and relief at being alive and sane burned like a kind of talisman inside of her, making her feel invincible. Surely, the meager attacks by her, as of late, insane coworkers couldn't vanquish the solace she now held inside of her?

Pam fought and fought her hardest, until finally all that lay around her were half a dozen unconscious bodies. Chest heaving, Pam stood above them all, the bloody tape dispenser still clutched tightly in her right hand. Quickly, she darted to each body except Jim's and taped each one of their mouths firmly shut, in case they woke up. When she was finished, she stood up straight again and admired her work.

A sudden shuffling sound behind her made her whip her head around. Michael had gotten silently to his feet, giving her a look of deepest loathing, seeing as he couldn't shriek. He lunged at her.

Forgetting about the tape dispenser, Pam drew back her left fist and punched him as hard as she could in the face. Michael stumbled backward and hit the floor with a thud, a spectacular bruise blooming over his right eye. He fainted on the spot.

Pam couldn't help but smile weakly as she looked at his deranged face, panting slightly. "You know, I always wanted to do that."

Michael still lay there, and Pam chuckled slightly to herself. Turning away, she quickly went over to Jim, who was still slumped against the wall, unconscious.

"C'mon Jim." Pam quickly searched for a pulse, and felt his heart beating weakly in his wrist. She then examined his arms, legs, and face for any bites. His skin was unscathed, though was deathly pale.

"C'mon."

Pam quickly crouched at his side and pulled his arm around her shoulder.

"Okay. One... two... three."

She heaved with all her might, and just managed to get Jim into a hunched kneeling position. With one more great tug, she managed to get him to his feet. Pam quickly got to her feet too, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"C'mon, Jim... try walking..."

Jim's right foot moved a half-inch forward, but that was it.

Pam couldn't help but smile at him. "If you can look me in the eye and admit your love for me, Jim, then you can do this."

Jim gave a faint, noncommittal grunt. Pam took that as a nod of determination.

"Okay..."

And with that, Pam half-dragged Jim through the mass of bodies surrounding them toward the hatch. Pam shifted Jim's weight so she could climb up the first two steps on the ladder. She then reached up, and knocked three times on the door, an unknown confidence that it would open filling her heart until it overflowed.

And sure enough, the small circular doorway whipped open by someone she couldn't see. Pam smiled.

The night sky never looked so beautiful to her than it did on that night.

* * *

**Yay! So they finally made it out! You guys better be jumping up and down in happiness, cause I sure am...**

**There is still one more chapter to go in this story, to satisfy all you JAMmers out there:) I want to finish this story before school starts, which is in literally only seven days. (*gulp*)**

**Anyway, please leave your reviews below! I'll read them when I get the chance:) Thanks for all the awesome support from you guys, it means a lot!**


	10. The Woman In The Teal Dress

**A/N: You know, I've wanted to be a writer since I was twelve, but ever since then I just couldn't figure out exactly what type of stories I wanted to write. I've always felt I had a bit of trouble with those sappy romantic plot-lines, and I ruled out the mystery and drama genres years ago. But I actually had a lot of fun with this particular fic. Perhaps not the horror and suspense, but I really did enjoy writing the action and adventure-y parts of this story... **

**Anyway, here's the final chapter of The Most Precious Thing You Have.**

**Disclaimer: For the last time until I have to say it again, I do _not_ own the Office

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**

"BP is one hundred forty over ninety, oh-two stats at ninety-five..."

"...And his heart rate's at sixty-four. Damn, all his vitals are normal. Why is he still unconscious?"

"He bumped his head pretty hard. He's looking at a minor concussion, at the very least."

"Any other injuries?"

"No, none that I can see. He's extremely lucky. Only he and those other two with him didn't get that weird infection going around inside."

"Yeah, what _is_ that exactly?"

"No clue. But it seems to scare the living shit out of those CDC morons. Did you see Bartowski back there after Patterson forced those office workers to stay in the building at gunpoint? He was ready to blow a gasket, he was so pissed..."

"_Bartowski_ got angry? No way – you'd have an easier time getting Gandhi to beat up his kids."

"I know, it was ridiculous..."

Jim could hear voices talking nearby, but they made no sense whatsoever. His eyes were closed, and he was dimly aware that he was on something very soft. He wanted to stay here forever, lying on this extremely comfortable surface. He felt himself shift ever so slightly, hoping to fall back asleep again...

"Hold on, Ray. I think he's waking up."

Through Jim's closed lids, he could see something extremely bright, like someone had switched on a light. Jim frowned.

"Hello? Hello, sir? Do you know where you are? What's your name?"

Jim groaned, his eyes fluttering open, while fighting the light that was shining so brightly. He registered dimly that maybe the loud voice was talking to him.

"Jim... Halpert..." Jim slurred, blinking slowly.

"Mr. Halpert, my name is Kurt Anderson. You've been through a terrible ordeal tonight. Please just lie back, my partner and I are going to check that you don't have any internal injuries."

Jim saw through his half-closed eyes that the man named Kurt was shining a flashlight directly into his retinas. The light seemed to burn more than what it should have, and Jim quickly shut his eyes again, turning away.

"Increased light sensitivity." Kurt stated matter-of-factly, and the light suddenly disappeared. "And his pupils aren't dilating. It's definitely a concussion, Ray."

"That's great Kurt, but please don't ever refer to me as your partner again." The man named Ray seemed to be scowling. "It's just not cute anymore..."

"Ah, fuck off."

Jim thought it was safe to open his eyes once again, so he slowly and heavily lifted his lids, just enough so he could take in his surroundings.

All he could see was silver. Silver and medical instruments. For one wild moment, Jim thought he had been sent to heaven's hospital. But then the rational part of his brain kicked in, and he suddenly realized that he was lying on a gurney and what he was seeing was the inside of an ambulance. Jim looked down and noticed he was still wearing his clothes, which were still covered in dirt, blood, and dried sweat. There was a large rip in his sweater near the shoulder, and something small and plastic was clamped on his index finger. Two EMTs, which Jim now knew were the two men named Ray and Kurt, were bustling around him, checking his pulse, inserting Iv's, and checking the bandages on the back of his head. Jim was suddenly aware of how much that particular spot throbbed.

"Slow down, man." Ray the EMT smiled as Jim tried to lift his head. He was wearing a blue Emergency Medical Transport uniform, and his messy black hair and olive skin contrasted easily with the bright, silver interior of the ambulance. He quickly moved forward so as to support Jim's neck as Jim pulled himself slowly into a sitting position. "Easy now..."

"Are we... on our way to the hospital?" Jim asked blearily when he finally managed to sit up. He placed a tentative hand on the tender spot on the back of his head and winced.

"The hospital?" Kurt chuckled. He was wearing a blue uniform like Ray was, although his skin was fairer and his hair blonde, though equally as messy. "Dude, when those CDC jerks say 'quarantine', they _mean_ quarantine..."

Jim gave him a confused look, and the other man chuckled. He moved aside, so Jim could get a look for himself.

The large ambulance doors were thrown wide open, and a second later Jim realized that they hadn't even moved from the parking lot. They were completely stationary, while people in many variations of uniforms bustled across his line of vision. Police cars, gurneys, and even a fire engine or two were nearby, parked haphazardly across several spaces. In the background was the sprawling, gray-bricked building that was the Local Scranton Business Park, looking innocent against the black, star-strewn sky.

"Those jackass police officers have been arresting anyone who steps even a foot off the property – we haven't been able to move for hours. It totally sucks."

"Yeah, and it sucks for you guys," Kurt added, nodding toward Jim. "You should be in a hospital right now. We don't have the proper equipment to treat patients."

"Not that we _could_ anyway..."

"True."

Jim was hardly listening. His eyes were roaming across the chaotic scene around him. Doctors and police officers and SWAT team members dashed from one point to another, barking orders and replies. To his right, he could see the exit leading out of the parking lot sealed off by a large, wire gate, where news reporters and cameramen on the other side were trying desperately to get in, to get a first-hand look at all the insanity.

Jim looked away. Turning to the two men beside him, he asked, "So what happened exactly?"

"Well, you were unconscious when they found you on the roof," Kurt said, while Ray nodded. "It was crazy: they had to lower you to the ground on some contraption suspended from a helicopter. _That_ part took probably about half an hour, but you didn't wake up once. When they finally got you down, you were brought to us straight away."

"You were lying there for probably about five minutes before you came to." Ray finished.

"What about Dwight?"

"Dwight?" Kurt asked, smiling slightly to himself. "That weird guy with the huge forehead? He's right over there..." he turned and pointed outside toward the building. Jim looked around, and noticed Dwight standing among a mass of doctors tending to his minor injuries while police officers pressed him for information. Jim watched as Angela, petite, yet fiercely determined, push her way through the small crowd and suddenly stop in front of Dwight. The two stared at each other a moment before Angela ran forward and flung her arms around his neck, kissing him all over his face.

"Ugh..." Ray turned away, making a face.

"Talk about PDA." Kurt smirked.

Jim couldn't help but let a smile bloom on his face as he watched Angela and Dwight. Ray looked at him incredulously.

"You're actually enjoying watching that?"

Jim shrugged, looking over at the man. "Ah, let him celebrate. He saved my life – I think he deserves a moment with his girlfriend, don't you?"

Ray suddenly raised his eyebrows. "Saved your life?"

"Yeah, I mean... I was knocked unconscious while I was still inside the building. I can only assume Dwight was the one who came back for me and pulled me out, or else I'd be dead, right?"

Kurt, however, shook his head. "No. He was already halfway down the ladder to the ground when they found you."

Jim stared at him, then frowned slightly. "So, what... your people found me inside or something?"

"Nah, they found you on the roof with some girl." Kurt squinted, trying to think. "She had brown hair... sort of thin... wore a teal dress... overall, she was pretty hot." he summed up.

"Only if she wasn't wearing sneakers with a dress." Ray snorted.

Jim was barely listening. His heart had suddenly started thumping loudly in his ears, causing him to go temporarily deaf. He was confused – they had just described Pam. But that was impossible, Pam was gone...

"Dude, are you all right?" Ray asked from far away. Jim realized he must have had the look of shock show on his face.

"Where is she?" He demanded croakily, staring up the two EMTs.

"Who?" Kurt asked questioningly "Wait, wha- -?"

For Jim had suddenly started ripping out his Iv's and unclamping the heart monitor from his finger. He suddenly scrambled out of the ambulance, jumping down to the pavement below.

"Dude, you can't just do that – you need treatment!" Kurt stared incredulously at Jim.

"Where is she?" Jim repeated, ignoring his protests.

"Where's who?"

"Pam! The girl who saved me! In the teal dress – where is she? Is she here?"

The two men looked taken aback by his urgency, but all the same, Ray looked over toward the other end of the parking lot, and pointed.

Jim spun to look in that direction, and froze.

There she was, about thirty yards away. She was sitting on a gurney as well, but was outdoors. Doctors were surrounding her, although she appeared unhurt, for she was sitting upright with her knees drawn to her chest. As the doctors eventually bustled out of the way, Jim got a clear view of her. Her eyes were blank and staring at the sky in thought, looking at nothing in particular. Then Jim noticed (with a sudden surge of anger) Roy standing off to the side of her bed, talking to her.

Jim couldn't hear what he was saying, but didn't care. All he wanted to do at the moment was run up to Roy and punch him in the face, making him feel just an ounce of the pain he himself had to endure the whole time they had been cooped up inside of that building. And Roy even had the audacity to go up to Pam and talk to her! Jim seethed, although he didn't move. He merely clenched his fists as he watched Roy talking, gesturing erratically in the air, obviously begging for forgiveness. Pam seemed to hardly realize he was even there as she stared blankly into space, twisting the engagement ring idly on her finger...

Suddenly, Pam turned her head slightly, and caught Jim's eye.

_It's her_, Jim thought suddenly, _It really is her. _He could hardly believe his eyes – he was utterly convinced that his brain was playing tricks...

Pam smiled at him.

Jim couldn't move – he was frozen in place, savoring the wonderful miracle that appeared before his very eyes. He watched as Pam brought her knees down, silently sliding off the gurney, her eyes still focused on Jim. Tearing her gaze away, she finally turned and focused her attention on her fiancé, who was struck dumb by her sudden movements. Jim watched as her fumbling fingers slid her ring off and press it into his palm, saying something Jim couldn't hear. But whatever she said caused Roy to gape, open-mouthed, at her, his shock rendering him completely immobile.

Pam patted his hand, a sad smile twisting on her face, before she quickly turned back around and started walking swiftly toward Jim.

Jim felt his legs move beneath him, unaware of what exactly he was doing or what Ray and Kurt were shouting at him. He was walking toward Pam, as quickly as he dared – one part of him still believing this to be a cruel joke his mind was playing on him, but another, more hopeful, part was absolutely convinced that what he was seeing was true.

An eternity seemed to pass as they made their way toward each other, dodging through the crowd of people, gurneys, and federal vehicles. But, finally, it seemed, Jim stopped in his tracks at a small clearing. Pam stopped as well, with about five feet between them, staring at Jim through wide, unreadable eyes.

Jim stared into her face, voicing the question that was on his mind: "I'm dead, aren't I?"

Pam made a small noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. She looked at him for a moment before answering. "You're not."

Jim didn't need much more persuasion.

In a matter of seconds he had closed the distance between them, scooping Pam up in his arms and pressing his lips to hers. Pam immediately smiled against him, wrapping her arms securely around his neck. He was kissing her like he had never kissed anyone before in his life – for immense shock and relief intermingled with his love for her. Jim paid no attention to his surroundings; to the whoops and catcalls coming from Ray and Kurt in the distance, or the furious curse words Roy was yelling at the top of his voice as he stormed away from the pair, demanding police officials to let him out. Jim merely kissed the woman he loved with all he had, knowing they could spend every second of their life like this and it still wouldn't be enough.

Jim continued to kiss her until his lungs were aching and his sore head was throbbing due to lack of oxygen. He finally let her go, though slowly, and somewhat reluctantly. He breathed out a sigh, moving until their noses were a mere inch apart. He smiled.

"God, I hope you're right." he whispered, closing his eyes and leaning forward, brushing his lips against hers, light as a feather. Pam smiled, her eyes closed as well.

Grinning from ear to ear, Jim surfaced once again, staring down at Pam, his eyes skating across her face, as if he he couldn't get enough of her. Pam giggled.

"How – How is this possible?" Jim asked hoarsely, his eyes still darting from one facial feature to the next.

Pam gave him an amused look before glancing at her surroundings. Jim looked too, and noticed most people giving Jim and Pam furtive, yet interested looks out of the corners of their eyes as they moved. Others merely stopped in their tracks to look at the couple, their faces showing surprise mixed with slight disgust. Jim even noticed some women in the background making cooing sounds, their eyes dreamy and vapid as they stared eagerly at the two.

"Maybe we should go somewhere with a little more privacy..." Pam suggested, smiling awkwardly up at Jim.

He smiled fully back, loving the fact that he had his shy and modest Pam Beesly back. "Sure."

But before Jim could suggest a place where they could talk, there was a sudden cry of "Jim Halpert!".

Jim turned to look for the source of the noise, afraid it was Roy back for revenge, but noticed Ray the EMT bustling up toward the pair, a falsely annoyed look on his face. He stopped in front of Jim.

"You shouldn't have left the ambulance." he said peevishly, though his eyes twinkled. "Kurt and I need to treat that concussion, as well as any other injuries we may have missed."

"Sure thing." Jim said, grinning. He looked down at Pam and took her hand before looking up at Ray again. "I believe you've met Pam?"

"Not directly." Ray's supposed anger quickly vanished from his features as he smiled excitedly, sticking out his hand eagerly for Pam to shake. "I'm Ray Volakis – my colleague and I are treating your boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Pam looked amused again as she shook his hand. She looked up at Jim, who gave her a small shrug and smile.

"C'mon, then – back to the ambulance." Ray let go of her hand and turned around, leading the way back to the vehicle. Pam and Jim followed, with Pam recounting to Jim what she had done to save herself from the infection. Jim was astounded, listening intently to her story, shocked and proud of how she handled it.

"So that's all it took to get rid of the infection? Some disinfectant and gauze?" Jim asked when she had finished. Both were clambering into the back of the ambulance after Ray, sitting down on either side of the gurney, on the benches attached to the sides of the truck. Jim was looking at her curiously, and Pam sighed, looking down.

"You know... I'm starting to wonder if I was even bitten in the first place."

Kurt and Ray, who were busying themselves with preparing the medical equipment for Jim, froze upon hearing this, listening intently. Jim gaped at her.

"But – but what about...?" Jim stuttered, gesturing toward her arm that was bandaged with the gauze. Pam understood, however.

"I don't even remember him biting me. All I remember is him slamming into me and then both of us falling onto that bureau." Pam explained. "This arm could have just have just as easily been punctured by large splinters from the broken wood. Not to mention- -" Pam actually pointed to her injured arm, "- -I never actually got any of the symptoms. Remember those weird black scabs Kelly got on her bite? Those never even appeared on my skin."

Jim still didn't look convinced.

"And you know..." Pam added thoughtfully, "... I'm starting to think that Ryan wasn't even planning on biting me in the first place."

Her statement was met with dead silence. Ray and Kurt glanced sideways at each other, both clearly confused as to why these people were referring to their friend Ryan like he was some deranged dog. Jim looked at Pam incredulously, suppressing a snort.

"Look, Pam – I heard that little speech you gave him before he attacked you, and it was touching, really. But how can you possibly still believe that he had some good left inside of him? After he brutally attacked us on more than one occasion? Trust me, that infection isn't going to let up."

"Don't be so sure about that," Pam shrugged. "Remember when he showed up right after we had left the stairwell? Do you remember that he could have easily bitten you or Dwight, but didn't?"

Jim still looked incredulous before he suddenly remembered – Ryan had been charging at them, and Jim tried to attack, but... Ryan grabbed his arm. Right then, Jim realized with a jolt, Ryan could have very easily infected him. But he didn't – he merely threw Jim aside and turned over to Dwight. With another small pang of surprise, Jim realized that Dwight could have easily gotten bitten as well...

"I'm right, aren't I?" Pam smirked at Jim's expression of dawning comprehension. Jim blinked and turned back to look at her. Slowly, he began to smile.

~/~

As Ray and Kurt began testing Jim's blood and changing his bandages, Jim and Pam fell silent, lost int their own thoughts. Eventually, Kurt moved over to Pam, saying he needed to check if she was hurt at all, and she didn't object. She silently watched Jim's face as Kurt bustled around her, checking her vitals, for his expression had faded suddenly into a thoughtful frown.

"Are you okay?" Pam asked Jim quietly after another minute of silence. He looked back up at her, his brow still furrowed slightly.

"We didn't even have to say goodbye." Jim finally met Pam's eye. His expression looked sad and lost, obviously thinking about that torturous half hour he had to endure inside, thinking that Pam was gone forever.

Pam smiled sympathetically. "Jim, we didn't have a choice. Even if we did consider the fact that I wasn't really bitten, there would still be the chance that I _was_ bitten, and either way, I still couldn't stay."

Jim still looked slightly dejected, and Pam added. "...And I still came back, didn't I?"

Jim smiled in spite of himself. "Yeah. You did."

Pam beamed back at him as Jim met her eyes once again. He was staring at her with that look filled with love and tenderness she had seen on him only a few minutes ago.

"You saved my life." Jim's lips curled once again into a smile, this one of gratitude, and Pam blushed, looking shyly down at her lap.

"You saved mine." Pam mumbled, glancing up into his eyes again. Jim's happy expression turned to one of slight confusion, but Pam didn't elaborate, shrugging slightly. Now wasn't the time to explain that he was the one that motivated her in the first place to even pick up that bottle of iodine; that it was his love that motivated her to save both their lives. There would be time to talk later, she thought.

While they were waiting for the quarantine to be lifted, Jim and Pam hung out in the ambulance with Kurt and Ray, talking and chatting happily. Jim and Pam couldn't help but keep glancing at each other, beaming and smiling for no apparent reason. At around five-thirty, the gates to the Business Park finally opened, pouring in about a hundred or so news reporters and cameramen, clambering to interview the survivors. About two dozen people fought their way over to Jim and Pam's ambulance, all carrying either microphones or notepads, screaming questions at them. Ray quickly walked up to the ambulance's large double doors and pulled them shut in their faces, saying idly that it was getting a bit chilly outside.

Kurt moved up to the drivers seat of the ambulance and started the engine. Vehicles all around them were slowly and gradually making their way out of the parking lot, seeing as the quarantine was finally lifted. It took about twenty minutes for Kurt to maneuver the large truck around the remaining people and police equipment and out of the parking lot entirely.

"Jim."

Jim looked around, and noticed that Pam had stood up and was looking out of the small rear window. Jim walked up to her side and glanced at what she was looking at.

Their business park was growing smaller and smaller as they drove away from it.

Jim looked down at Pam, who was staring at the large, gray building with tears in her eyes. Jim knew that she was wondering if their friends were going to be okay.

He turned to look out of the window again, taking Pam's hand lightly in his. He felt her squeeze his fingers gently.

They watched as their paper company got smaller as they drove farther and farther away. Finally, the ambulance turned a corner, and it was gone.

_The End

* * *

_

**So that's the end! Did you like? Did you not? Let me know! :)**

**I just want to say that Kurt and Ray were probably the funnest characters ever to write. I hope you loved them as much as I do! **

**Also, in this chapter, I gave two small shoutouts to my other two favorite shows on earth: **_**Chuck **_**and **_**House M.D. **_**Can you spot them? If you can, I'll subscribe you to my Author Alert!**

**Thank you for all the lovely support:) You guys are seriously amazing.**

**So, until next time,**

**StrawPohj**


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